It's The Greatest Time of Year
by jaykw2614
Summary: "Listen. I know this is kind of dumb to say but I really like being your friend"...Cece & Schmidt are spending separate holidays in The Big Apple. But after boredom sets in they decide to spend some time together to work on their new friendship. Set after season 4's LAXmas.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Schmece fans. This is something I have been working on for the last few months. It's been pretty slow going so I apologize about that. This takes place immediately after LAXmas and is my take on how Schmidt and Cece spent their holidays given that they were in the same city. I'm expecting to have at least six chapters...maybe seven & I'm working on those too, but I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to update them. Please be patient...& review please! Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Ch. 1 – Joy to the World & Everyone**

 _"…I really like being your friend."_

Schmidt felt his heart drop down ten stories and disappear into oblivion. He didn't know how six simple words, meant to provide comfort could make him feel hopeless and yet surprisingly content at the same time. Given all the mistakes he had made with her, part of him was more than thankful that she was even willing to consider being friends with him. Although, something about the way she spoke made her words seem so final. As if that was all they could ever be from that point on. And for that, he couldn't blame her. All he could do was swallow the pain, which he knew he deserved, and just grin and bear it.

 _"My friend."_

Hearing the pain in his voice and seeing the hurt in his eyes caused Cece's face to slightly fall. Though they both tried to hide behind a forced smile, she knew Schmidt too well, and she could see that he was dying on the inside. She hated that she was doing that to him, and wished like hell that they go back and re-do everything that brought them to this moment, but that was just not possible. She had no way of knowing if they would ever be able to get back to a place where she felt safe with him again. She knew she had to be more cautious going forward, especially with him.

As hard as it was for him to do so, Schmidt held the gaze his eyes had on hers. In that brief moment, he searched deep within them to get some kind of sense as to what she was feeling. He used to do that a lot back when they first started dating. This time, looking into those gorgeous brown eyes, what he read in them was genuine comfort and care towards him. It only took a second for it to register in his mind, but that was all he needed to come to terms with accepting this new status of their relationship…their new friendship.

 _"I like being your friend too."_

* * *

Cece was woken up by the pilot announcing to all the passengers of the plane that they were approaching JFK and getting ready to make their descent. It was then that she realized that she had fallen asleep on the shoulder of her ex who was still fast asleep with his head tilted back. Cece pulled her head up and leaned back to her side of the seat before he would notice, but he never stirred. She looked over at him to assure that he was still sleeping, contemplating whether or not to wake him. He looked so cute when he was sleeping. She didn't want to take her eyes off of him. His nose haphazardly crinkled the way it always did when he was deep in slumber. Cece smiled at the small movement that soon acted as a trigger to all the memories she had held onto. All those nights lying in bed with him after sex. Cece would make up excuses to prolong her stay, saying that she was too tired to try to leave or didn't want to risk being caught by one of the roommates getting up to pee at 4 am, but those were just lies she fed him to keep him from knowing the truth. She enjoyed lying in bed with him and even watching him sleep sometimes.

She thought back to one night in particular during the time they had their secret affair. _She broke into the loft and snuck into his room at 3 o'clock in the morning. It had been almost a week since she and Schmidt's last rendezvous and she was craving him like an addict going through withdrawals. The few times she tried to reach him for a booty call, he didn't answer. Jess had mentioned to her that she was trying to help him rid himself of his obsessive need for order and control, but it had taken a horrible turn. So a desperate Cece decided to take matters into her own hands._

 _Earlier that night, Cece had gone out with her model friends to a club and spent the whole evening partying. All night, guys were hitting on her and trying to convince her to go home with them, but none of them had really interested her. They were the exact same type of guys she had usually hooked up with, but lately, they just weren't doing it for her. The only thing on her mind was the 5'10", neurotic Jewish man she had waiting for her…hopefully._

 _She quietly closed the door to his room and crawled onto the bed with him, but before she could bring herself to wake him, she sat there motionless, just watching him. He looked so peaceful lying there shirtless, on his right side with his arm under his pillow. A few moments had passed before she started to wonder if what she was doing constituted as stalker behavior. Suddenly feeling incredibly creeped out by herself, she tried to gently wake him without frightening him, but he was very tightly wound so surprising him was inevitable._

As the thought of seeming creepy occurred to her again, she snapped herself from the past and back into reality sitting next to a sleeping Schmidt on the plane. Cece placed her hand on his shoulder to softly shake him awake. "Schmidt….Schmidt wake up." She whispered to him. He slowly began to come to, rubbing his eyes and stretching his back.

"What's going on?" He asked with a slightly groggy voice. "Did you need to use the bathroom?" his eyes were only half open as he looked at her, but even that was enough for her to get lost in them. She flustered a bit before remembering why she had woken him up in the first place.

"Um…n-no…I don't. Uh…We're about to land." She turned back to face forward and exhaled slowly and quietly.

"How long was I out?" he asked curiously, not remembering ever falling asleep.

"I don't know. I fell asleep too." Schmidt shuffled around under his feet to assure that his carryon bag was still beneath his feet and was ready to go when they landed. As the plane began its descent, getting closer to the ground, Cece got that sick feeling she always got from flying. She tried to hide it from Schmidt, closing her eyes and sitting up as straight as she could with her back pushed right up against the back of her seat. She attempted to control her breathing, but was completely unaware of the fact that she sounded like a woman in the early stages of labor. Schmidt patted the back of her hand in an effort to ease her worry.

"Just relax." He said sweetly, "It's almost over." He pulled his hand back to his lap trying not to overstep in the territory of their new friendship.

Cece, however, was so unnerved that she couldn't even bring herself to utter a simple thank you, let alone realize if his hand lingered on hers. She was grateful for the gesture and found it sweet that he noticed. The plane suddenly touched down on the runway and bounced for a moment or two. Without even realizing, Cece's hand flew across the arm rests and located one of his in his lap. She squeezed for dear life. Schmidt was just glad he doesn't make his living playing guitar for some Alternative Rock band, because then he would be screwed. Though he couldn't care less. If there was anything that he could do to help her feel better when she was scared, he would move heaven and earth to do so.

He let her squeeze away, running his thumb along the backside of her hand for reassurance. As the plane slowed down and turned off the runway, she finally felt relaxed enough to let go. It wasn't until she released his hand that she realized just how deadly her grip actually was. Schmidt tried not to let her see him massage his hand.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry, Schmidt." She had no idea that she was squeezing that hard. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she bit the corner of her lower lip.

"Ah, don't worry about it." He said. "I'm just glad I could help. Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I think so. Thank you." Her voice was still a bit shaky. She looked at him out the corner of her eye and in doing so, caught him doing the same. They shared a kind smile with one another.

"Anytime." Schmidt said as they both broke their connection. It started getting a bit awkward.

"I don't know why, but I just get so freaked out when the plane starts going down like that."

"I know."

Cece looked at him confused. "How?"

"That cruise we went on a few months ago. We had to fly back from Mexico. You grabbed my arm so fast. I thought you were going to dislocate my shoulder, you were gripping it so tight."

"You remember that?"

"Of course I do." Cece couldn't help but feel a tug at her heartstrings at that statement. She smiled sweetly at him just before hearing the pilot address all the passengers of the plane.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as we make our way to the gate, I ask that you please remain seated until we come to a complete stop and the seatbelt lights turn off. On behalf of everyone I would like to thank you for choosing American Airlines for your holiday travel needs. Welcome to New York City and have a very Merry Christmas."

Schmidt and Cece sat in silence as the plane slowly made its way towards the gate entrance. Like them, most of the other passengers were getting their bearings after having been woken up. Soon enough, they came to a complete stop, the seatbelt lights turned off and everyone stood. Schmidt, ever the gentleman, stood up and blocked the aisle from all the passengers behind them to allow Cece ample room to depart the plane.

* * *

JFK was about as crazy as LAX had been. All around them people were rushing around and rudely pushing past each other without any regard for others. Like a scene from World War Z, it was every man for himself. Schmidt did his best to block any and all vagrants from trampling Cece. In him, there was an instinctual need to protect her. It was as if he was a bodyguard and she a famous popstar after a concert trying to dodge unruly fans. Things settled down a bit the closer they got to the exit.

Schmidt and Cece reached the escalator going down and finally felt like they could relax. "Jesus Christ," she said. "Christmas is supposed to be a happy time, but everyone is acting like it's the end of the world."

"Yeah…it's pretty crazy. You okay?" Schmidt asked her somewhat out of breath.

" _I'm good_. What about you? You were pushing passed them like a Linebacker. I didn't know you had it in you."

"I was defending you against an angry hoard of New Yorkers. There's a reason this is called the most aggressive city in the world, and the holidays just send it into overdrive." Cece smiled at him appreciatively. If there was anything she took away from her entire relationship with Schmidt, it was that no matter what, he would do anything for the people he cared about.

"Aw. My hero." She said playfully as their eyes met and they shared a smile.

The pair made it down to the terminal exit and immediately their smiles faded. The line for the cab stand seemed to go on for miles. Each of them knew there was no way they were getting out of there for at least four hours.

"You have got to be kidding me." Cece threw hands in the air and rolled her eyes.

"Well this is just ridiculous!" They were both beyond aggravated.

"So. What do we do now? Do we just…wait?"

Schmidt angrily put his hands on his hips and shrugged. "I don't know."

Seeing that the rental car line was not nearly as long, Cece made a suggestion. "I mean…I guess we could just…rent a car or something."

Schmidt looked around trying desperately to rack his brain for an idea that would get them out of that God forsaken airport within the next few minutes. That's when his eyes caught sight of their ticket out. Off to the right of the exit doors stood a group of Chauffer's holding signs for their intended clients. Cece could see the lightbulb in his head suddenly flick on and got really nervous. He had a plan and nine times out of ten, his plans didn't go all that well.

"Actually," He said, looking at Cece with a sly smile that made her anxious, "I might have an idea."

Her face cringed. "Oh god. How can this end well?"

"Just trust me." As Schmidt made his way to where the drivers stood, Cece was a few steps behind him given that she had mentally checked out for a second. Hearing that word escape from his lips in such a casual manner made her a little uneasy. There was a time when he was one of the few people she had trusted. Thinking about it now, though, she had to ask herself if any part of her trusted him, and if so, in what way?

They both stopped when they were about ten feet away from the collection of suited men. "Okay. Wait here until I flag you over, and then…you just…follow my lead." Cece nodded, reluctantly following along blindly with Schmidt's plan that was sure to get him arrested. Schmidt walked up to chauffer holding a sign that read 'L. Meriwether' and decided to try his luck.

"For Meriwether?" Schmidt asked with confidence, which was met with a quizzical look from the driver.

"You're _Liz_ Meriwether?"

Schmidt knew deep down that this might happen, but his ego clouded his ability to come up with a plan beforehand. Luckily, working in marketing usually made him clever at thinking on his feet…usually. While trying to search his brain for an explanation, he couldn't come up with a single thing. The driver continued to look at him puzzled as he stood there stammering, unable to form a complete sentence. He quickly glanced back towards Cece, who thought he was going to develop Nick's affliction of excessive perspiration during scams and lying.

Suddenly it hit him. Schmidt smiled at the chauffer, regaining his self-reliance. "Well…I'm not…obviously. No I work for Miss Meriwether. She's right over yonder." He pointed to Cece, catches her off guard as, both men's eyes were aimed in her direction. "Hey _Liz_ , would come over here please?" Schmidt called over to her. Cece hesitantly walked over to where she was being summoned.

Assessing the situation, Cece understood the general idea of what was transpiring and adapted. "Yes. I am Liz Meriwether. Sorry I had to send my assistant over. I was collecting myself, it was a long flight."

"Understood ma'am. Traveling during the holidays is crazy." With that verbal acceptance of her identification, the Chauffer lowered the sign that displayed the name of her new alias and began grabbing her luggage. Once he had a firm hold on her bags, he led them outside the airport where his black limo was waiting curbside.

"Oh. Don't I know it?" Cece was a natural at deception and was owning this façade. Schmidt was more than impressed with her performance.

"So where am I taking you today Miss Meriwether?"

"Well…I'm going to The Roosevelt on 45th & Madison. But my assistant here will be staying elsewhere. I gave him the holidays off to spend time with family."

"That was nice of you." The driver reached the trunk of the car, opened it and began to load all of their luggage, grabbing bags from Schmidt as well.

"Ah…Well…What can I say?" It was scary how great her acting chops were.

"So I take it…I'm dropping him off after you then?" The driver directed towards Schmidt.

"If you don't mind." Cece answered for him politely.

"Not at all ma'am." He closed the trunk and stepped back up onto the curb to open the door for his two passengers. Cece got in first flashing a friendly grin and was followed by Schmidt who nodded as he entered the vehicle.

* * *

Once the driver's door closed, he lowered the partition separating the two areas of the limo. The driver turned in his seat to face his guests. "So Miss Meriwether…I have your destination, but where am I dropping your assistant?"

"-Long Island!" "-Queens!"

They both exclaimed in unison, once again confusing the driver. Schmidt and Cece both looked at each other. "I thought you're mom still lived in Long Island. Ya' know the whole 'LIL…Billy Joel' outburst back at the lounge." Cece asked recalling his blowout with that business man back in the First Class Lounge of LAX, the reason of which she was still confused about.

"She does, but this year we're spending the holidays with my cousin. The other Schmidt. He lives in Queens."

"Wait. Big Schmidt? The one I met during the 'Parent Trap Thanksgiving' a few years ago?"

"The one and only." The driver just sat there while they carried on their conversation, as they temporarily forgot his presence.

"Good luck with that."

"Thanks. I'm going to need all I can get." He wasn't kidding, Schmidt knew full well the hell he was in for and hearing his tone, Cece got an idea of how his vacation was going to go.

After a few seconds of silence, the driver spoke up to confirm his secondary destination. "So…Queens then?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you." With that, the driver turned back into his seat, closing the partition and starting the car. Seconds later, they were on the road fighting through holiday highway hell.

* * *

The drive into the city took as long as one could expect given the time of year. Schmidt and Cece, however barely noticed. They weren't even in the limo for a full two minutes before finding the fully stocked minibar. To celebrate their success in tricking the driver and procuring for themselves a free ride, Cece popped a bottle of expensive champagne and poured them both glasses. They passed the time playing stupid road trip games that only seemed less dumb the tipsier they got.

The two of them were having such a good time that they didn't even realize that they were having a legitimate friendly interaction. There were no awkward pauses or momentary lapses filled with weird tension. They were just two people who had been the best of friends for years. Nothing more, nothing less. These kinds of interactions had become a somewhat rare occurrence, but they did happen on occasion.

The most recent was this past Thanksgiving, or as Schmidt had decreed it, 'Bangs-Giving'. After the soiree was all said and done, Cece stayed behind to play board games with Schmidt. They had a few beers and settled themselves on the living room floor attempting to translate what seemed to be the Thai version of Monopoly that was left at the loft courtesy of Tran. Cece was almost positive that they were playing it completely wrong, but Schmidt was having a hell of a time just making it up as they went along. He would pretend that he could actually read the playing cards and each and every one had worked for his advantage. Cece got a kick out of seeing how excited he got, thinking he was actually winning. She would pretend to be annoyed with him and his cheating, but secretly, she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Here we are." Both of them were caught off guard when the chauffer rolled down the partition. Hearing his voice call out to them that they had arrived snapped them back to the present in an instant. They each looked outside the window and saw the entrance to the hotel where Cece would be spending her trip.

"Oh." She said, accidentally letting her disappointment slip into her tone. She was having a nice time hanging with Schmidt in the back of that limo. Schmidt got out first and helped her out of the backseat in a true gentlemanly style.

"Miss Meriwether." He said sarcastically as he extended his hand out for her to take as she stepped out of the car and onto the curb in front of the building. The driver was already at the trunk pulling out her luggage and setting it down on the curb next to her. He tipped his hat to her and wished her a 'Happy Holidays' then walked back around the car to take his place in the driver's seat to allow them their last words before parting ways.

For a moment or so, the two of them stood awkwardly facing each other wondering how to go about bidding each other adieu.

Cece let out a small sigh. "So…I guess this is goodbye for now?"

"More like a see you later."

"Right, well. I'll see you back at JFK on the thirtieth then."

"You shall…And hey, if you ever need anything, I'm just a phone call away."

Cece smiled at him for being ever so sweet. No matter what, he never failed to express his concern for her. "I appreciate that."

Schmidt returned the smile. "What are friends for?" With that, Cece's subconscious acted on her behalf. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in close for a hug. Schmidt brought his arms up to reciprocate. The embrace lasted for a long moment. While Cece was holding on because she felt so secure in his arms, Schmidt was taking this time to breathe her in. He missed being flooded with her scent that he had once described as a 'heavenly curry smell'.

Their moment had reached its inevitable end and they both pulled away, immediately meeting the others eyes. "Happy Holidays, Schmidt."

"Happy Moon Festival Cecilia."

That comment provoked its usual eye-roll. "Okay, that's still not a thing." She said to him with a feigned exasperated tone. He gave a sly smile to her as he turned and got back into the back seat of the limo and shut the door behind him.

Once the road was clear, the vehicle pulled out of the loading space and onto the busy streets of New York and continued to its next destination. Cece held her place on the sidewalk in front of her hotel. Her eyes were glued to the tail lights of the car. Part of her could still feel the frame of her ex-boyfriend against her. She couldn't believe that she had started to miss him already, but she knew herself well enough to know that it wasn't his company that she was really missing.

* * *

Schmidt sat quietly in the back seat of the commandeered limo, staring out the window, watching what seemed like the world pass him by. The skyscrapers, the people, the city as a whole, it all seemed new to him every time he came back. Maybe that was because he didn't come back often. Suddenly he was hit with a wave of nostalgia, and all the memories from his childhood slowly resurfaced. All the teasing, the bullying and embarrassing moments, being chased down the block, it made him cringe.

Out the window, he saw the sign for the Queensboro Bridge. Right on cue, his stomach became overwhelmed with the feeling of dread. The thought of being stuck in his cousin's house with his overbearing, critical mother & his nagging aunt along with countless other members of his family, gave him a premature migraine. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, trying to ease his irritation by going to his happy place and hopefully relieve his anxiety. The minute he allowed both his body to relax and his brain to mentally check itself out, he became inundated with images of the woman he just left.

He wasn't surprised that she was all he could think about. Whenever he needed to calm himself down, his mind would always inadvertently overload itself with images and memories of the one that got away. Schmidt never forgave himself for the way things turned out with Cece. In fact, he hated himself for it.

Whenever he thought about all the crap he had put her through, he felt a pit in his stomach. He had that same feeling eight hours ago back at LAX when Cece had made a point to tell him that she really liked being his friend. That hit him harder than he ever could imagine. Schmidt had no illusions about his future with Cece. Though occasionally, he would fantasize about the possibility of them getting back together, with the internal promise to himself to do better. But after that conversation, those fantasies fell even further on the spectrum of possibly becoming a reality.

'I really like being your friend'. Her voice uttering that sentence over and over again was tormenting him. It was his own fault, and once again, he just had to grin and bear it. He also saw this as an opportunity. Cece was a part of his life and he was intent on keeping it that way. They may never have a romantic relationship again, but being friends will have to suffice. Schmidt decided that he was going to give this friendship a true shot, and give it his all. Starting as soon as possible. He couldn't lose her from his life for good. He wouldn't.

* * *

 **So that's the first chapter. Please let me know what you think. And again I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to update but I at least wanted to get this out before December since it's set during Christmas. Would love to have your feedback and any suggestions you guys might have. Thanks Again! SCHMECE 4EVER!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So sorry it took me so long but here is chapter 2. I'm really hoping you guys are liking it so far.**

* * *

 **Ch. 2 – Help Me Celebrate It**

It hadn't been a very restful night for the 31-year-old Indian woman. All evening she tossed and turned with the worst feeling of guilt she had felt in a long time. When she closed her eyes, her mind was plagued with the image of Schmidt's face as he mentally processed the sentence she had uttered. His mind was stuck on that one word, 'friend'.

Cece remembered laying her head down to rest at around 10 that night. Time hadn't seemed to go by all too quickly, but the next time her head rolled over to glance at the clock, she was surprised to find that it was now 6:42 AM. Exhaustion, however, was the least of her worries. Try as she might she could not escape the remorse of crushing the one person who loved her endlessly.

She decided to give up on trying to doze off. It was a moot point. Besides, her mother and stepfather, Rajiv, had asked her to meet them downstairs for breakfast at 7:30. Cece pulled the comforters off her and made her way to the bathroom, turning on the shower to begin her morning ritual.

Cece was so distracted yesterday trying to understand how to move forward with Schmidt, that she hadn't even noticed how amazing the hotel was. She got off the elevator to the lobby and followed the signs for the restaurant, passing along the way, the spa, indoor pool & the fitness center. That's when it had dawned on her that the many times she had been to New York, she hadn't taken the time to stop and take in the sights and see the true exquisiteness the city had to offer.

The restaurant was fairly fancy, not that she was expecting anything less given that they were at 'The Roosevelt'. Before she could open her mouth to ask the maître-d where to find her table, her mother had caught sight of her and flagged her over to where she and her stepfather, Rajiv, were sitting. "Cecilia! Over here." Priya Parekh hoarsely shouted to her daughter.

"How did you sleep?" Her mother asked her sincerely as she took her seat.

Cece shrugged. "Not that great. I guess I'm still kind of Jet-lagged." Jet-lag was a better reason for a restless night than admitting to her mother that she was up all night thinking about her Jewish ex-boyfriend whom she had never met nor even heard of. She knew her mother wouldn't like the idea of her daughter dating anyone that wasn't Indian. Cece was still walking on eggshells around her mother after the failed wedding to Shivrang two years ago. All she wants is for her daughter to find a nice Indian man who has a good steady job so they can get married and start a family, but Cece just couldn't go through with it.

"Well I'm sure it will wear off soon."

"Yeah, I hope so."

Rajiv took note of his stepdaughter's sullen tone and made an attempt to lift her spirits. "Maybe if you're not too tired, you would like to join us today." He asked.

"Really? What are you guys up to?" Cece tried her best not to sound too bland, but she knew any plans that the two of them had made for the day could, in no way, be appealing to her.

"We're going to Bellerose to visit with some of your step father's family." Priya said encouragingly.

The last thing Rajiv wanted to do was bore her. "Afterwards, we were planning to visit Ellis Island. Make a day of it." He wasn't quite sure what Cece was into. They didn't talk all that much, but didn't have that cliché type of stepparent/stepchild relationship either. He married her mother well after she left home and didn't get many opportunities to bond, but all of their interactions displayed a mutually respectful aspect.

"Actually, you know, I was thinking about just staying in the city, close to the hotel in case I suddenly get hit with a wave of exhaustion." Rajiv was neither disappointed nor surprised at her answer. He was expecting her to opt out, but at the very least, he wanted to make sure she knew she was welcomed to join them.

The same could not be said for Priya, however. Spending time with family was something she took very seriously and was frustrated when either of her children neglected to honor the family's values. "Cecilia…I really think you should join us. It would be good for you to learn the history of your ancestors and their immigration to this country."

"Priya…" Rajiv interjected on Cece's behalf. "I'm sure she doesn't want to spend the day with people twice her age getting a history lesson. She's a grown woman, she'll be fine on her own."

"Well I don't like the idea of you wandering off all alone in this big city by herself."

"Mom, I'm not going to be walking down dark alleys. Besides, I've been here millions of times, I'll be fine." As reassuring as she tried to be, Cece knew it was completely lost on her mother. She was the kind of woman who worried constantly, even about matters that didn't warrant concern.

"I still don't like it."

"Look…"Cece began, "If it'll make you feel better, I have a friend in town visiting family for the holidays. I'll give them a call." She worded her sentence carefully as to not specify whether the friend was a man or woman. She was, of course, referring to Schmidt, but didn't want to lie to her mother, nor did she feel like getting sucked into a lecture about the type of men she was involved with in any capacity.

The former Parekh woman was still uneasy. Looking back and forth between her daughter and husband, she decided to drop the matter for now. "Fine." Cece tried to hide her smile knowing that if she let her cheek muscles run rampant, she would have flashed a full, teeth-showing beam, but didn't want to impair the illusion that she was exhausted.

* * *

Unlike his ex-girlfriend, Schmidt was enjoying a slumber so deep, it was borderline hibernation. He found it was easier to get a good night's rest when he wasn't encumbered with work or being woken up by his loud and mischievous roommates. His cousins' couch was surprisingly comfortable given that he lived there alone and his home was in serious need of a woman's touch.

Schmidt had every intention of sleeping until the last possible second his body would allow him to, but whatever god he believed in seemed to have other plans. As if there was some higher power delivering a personal 'screw you' to the self-absorbed Jewish man, he was abruptly startled awake by the overpowering and thunderous sound of his mother and his aunt bellowing at the top of their lungs. His eyes snapped open and he was immediately plagued with the feeling of dread that always accompanied his visits home. As hard as he tried, he couldn't will himself to go back to sleep and knew it was only a matter of time before someone tried to wake him anyway. Rolling his eyes, Schmidt threw the blanket off himself and sat up. He took a minute get his bearings before standing up and heading towards the origin of his growing headache.

The smell of coffee wafting throughout the house was beckoning him. If only he could develop powers of invisibility at this very moment that would allow him to slip into the kitchen and grab a cup without anyone noticing. But of course, that was wishful thinking. The second his bare foot hit the cold kitchen tile, all eyes were on him. He pretended not to notice, making a beeline for the coffee machine knowing full well that he couldn't face either of the two women without a caffeine boost.

"Well looked who finally decided to join the land of the living." It was all Schmidt could do to keep his skin from crawling at the shrill sound of his Aunt Sharon's voice.

"Honestly, honey. It's almost noon. How can you sleep all day?" Louise Schmidt was the Queen of overbearing, controlling, nagging mothers everywhere.

"I guess I'm just jet-lagged."

Louise scoffed at her son. "Jet-lagged. How are you jet-lagged? You were born and raised here. Everything should all be second nature to you every time you come back." The fact that that ridiculous statement made sense to Schmidt made him shudder as he joined the two women at the table.

He felt what little energy he had at the moment drastically drain from his body, and needed another hit of caffeine. He brought the mug up, ready to take a sip, when suddenly his cousin barreled into the kitchen, grabbing each of Schmidt's shoulders and shook him violently, spilling slightly hot coffee all over him and the table in the process.

"Schmiggle!" He screamed. Schmidt wanted to shoot himself right then and there and accept sweet death. "What's up little buddy?"

"Sweetheart," Aunt Sharon chimed in, "You're making a mess."

"Sorry Ma." Big Schmidt said. He walked over to his kitchen sink, grabbed a towel and tossed it to his little cousin. "So, Schmiggle. What are you trying to do today?"

"Actually, I think I'm just going to relax around here today. I'm exhausted."

"What are you exhausted from? You slept for almost eighteen hours last night! Is it more of that jet-lagged nonsense?"

"Jet-lag is not nonsense, it's a real thing. I'm still on California time. I just need a day to readjust."

"You want to know how to readjust? You get up, you go out and do something. Leave the house, interact with people. And let me tell you something, you will find yourself among a higher class of people in this city than you would had you stayed in Hollywood with all those hipsters walking around."

"I like Los Angeles just fine." Schmidt didn't know why he even bothered saying anything at all. He already knew she wasn't going to listen to a word he said. It was easier to just let her talk.

"You've been out there too long. It's time you moved back. Get a better job out here and a nice apartment to have to yourself. You're thirty, you shouldn't live in house that has a urinal. And I don't know how you don't go crazy living with five roommates. How do you get any privacy?"

"Oy vey! Five roommates?" Sharon asked dumbfounded.

Schmidt felt the need to correct them. "I only have four roommates."

"Since when?"

"Since always." He replied. "It's only ever been Me, Nick, Winston, Coach, & Jess."

"What about that chick you used to date? Cece. I thought she lived with you guys too." His cousin chimed in. Schmidt's eyes grew wider than he knew they could get. He stared daggers at his older cousin from across the room and tried to subtly shake his head to get him to stop talking, but it went lost on the behemoth.

Louise set down her coffee and stared at her only son. " _Chick_? What _chick_? You dated one of your roommates? Who is this Cece? Is she Jewish?"

"She doesn't sound Jewish." Sharon piped in between sips.

Big Schmidt, oblivious to the fact that he was digging his cousin into a deeper and deeper hole, felt the need to add to the conversation. "I think she's Mexican or something. But she was smoking hot. Of course Schmiggle here wasn't man enough to handle a woman like that."

Louise's lips pursed sternly. "You dated some Mexican woman?"

Schmidt was exasperated. He threw his body and head back on the chair and ran his face over his hands and through his hair. "Here we go." He muttered to himself.

Unlocking the hotel door, Cece swiftly entered her hotel room and threw her shopping bags and purse on the bed. She didn't buy much for herself. The few bags she had contained Christmas gifts for Jess, Nick & the other guys that made up the makeshift loft family she happened to find herself a part of. Winston, Coach & Nick were simple enough to gift shop for. She bought Coach a new stopwatch since he was always timing things, a kitten calendar for Winston where every month featured a picture of that grumpy cat that resembled Ferguson, and for Nick, a bottle opener with a handle that read 'Save Water, Drink Beer'. She figured they'd all get a kick out of those. Shopping for Jess was hard because she always had high expectations. Cece figured a new pair of winter boots were a safe bet to give her best friend of nearly 20 years.

Now she just had one more gift to get. ' _How do you shop for a gift to give your ex-boyfriend who is now just your friend?'_ Cece thought to herself. But thinking about, the term 'ex-boyfriend' didn't seem appropriate to call Schmidt. It seemed like they were more than merely exes. And since they were venturing on to the just friends territory, finding a suitable gift was all the more crucial. Part of her wanted to just buy him another Tungsten Carbide bracelet like she did two years ago when she first asked him to be just friends, but a repeat gift was tacky. Besides, he still had that bracelet and wore it practically every day. Cece pretended not to notice as he tried to hide it under his sleeves, but there were times where she caught him slipping and it would slide out from under his cuffs.

She tried not to read anything into it as it was just a bracelet given to one friend from another, but every time she saw that metallic glare shine just above his hand, she couldn't help the feeling of warmth that would course through her body from his thoughtfulness. What she needed to do was find a gift that held equal quality and meaning as that bracelet. That was going to take a few days to figure out.

Before she knew it, all Cece could think about was Schmidt. Not only about a fitting gift for him, but everything. She wondered whether he was able to sleep last night or if he was tortured with restlessness as she had been. She hoped he wasn't too miserable having to be around his mother, who, from his recounting of his childhood, seemed a bit overbearing. Now she found herself wondering what he was doing at that very moment.

Schmidt sat at the kitchen table with his head in his hands as he was forced to endure a full blown lecture from his mother about dating a Jewish girl. Only a small part of him was paying attention while the rest of his mind was focusing on two other matters. The first being the method of torture he was going to inflict on his cousin for inciting this reprimand before leaving him there, and the second was him praying to God and anyone who would listen to bring an end this by any means necessary. Schmidt was so desperate, he was even hoping for another hurricane to strike.

Cece had been sitting in the same spot on her hotel room bed for the last twenty minutes trying to work up the nerve to call Schmidt and ask him to lunch. She found herself missing him and desiring his company. Her problem was, she didn't want to intrude on his vacation. After all, he was with his family.

Over and over again, Cece kept hearing his voice echo through her mind like a broken cassette tape…' _if you ever need anything, I'm just a phone call away.'_ Surely he meant if she were ever in a bind, but she was willing to believe that it also extended to the two of them hanging out if they were ever bored or in need of companionship.

Cece knew she was overthinking this and then some. Her subconscious was just trying to stall herself out of fear of rejection. _So what if he says he can't,_ she thought to herself _, you can always just order room service and watch TV._ She tried to make that seem less pathetic than it felt, but no such luck. _Just call him Cece…You guys are friends now…friends call each other and ask each other to lunch without feeling like seventh graders._

It took a bit more of an internal struggle with herself before Cece finally said 'to hell with it' and pressed the call button next to Schmidt's name on her phone. With each ring, she got more and more nervous and she could not figure out why.

Hell, was the only word befitting this precise moment. Schmidt was currently in Hell. Before him stood his mother going on and on. What started as a speech about the cultural and familial obligation of dating a woman from a Jewish family, had somehow taken a turn to the pros and cons of moving back to Long Island.

Schmidt didn't know how much more of this he could take. There were many reasons he never visited his mother or asked her to visit him, and this was number one. His eyes scanned the kitchen, hoping to find something that would allow him to make a getaway. His best option was to somehow 'accidentally' cut himself so badly he would require stitches. The idea of spending the rest of the day in the Emergency room was strangely relaxing to him, which he found sad.

Just then, his daydream was suddenly cut off by the beautiful sound of his ringing phone in the next room. He hastily excused himself, not even bothering to hide the joy in his voice. He grabbed his cellphone off the coffee table and read the caller id, surprised to see Cece's name. Whatever the reason for her call, Schmidt knew that he owed her…Big Time.

He answered casually, not wanting her to misinterpret his cheery tone for anything other than relief from escaping his mother. Cece apologized if she was bothering him and decided to be straight forward and not beat around the bush. She told him that she had just gotten back from shopping all morning and extended to him an invitation to lunch in the city. Schmidt more than graciously accepted. He told her of a restaurant she might like and they both agreed to meet there in an hour before hanging up.

* * *

Cece entered the restaurant at the address that Schmidt had texted her earlier. It was a cozy little café that was busy, but not too packed. She looked around, scanning the faces of the occupants until she found him. He was so fixated on his phone, that he hadn't even noticed she arrived. No doubt he was shopping online for a new cardigan or a pair of driving moccasins. Cece made her way over to his table by the window. He looked up just in time to see her approach and the instant their eyes met, his face was beaming. Schmidt got up to greet her. They shared a short but sincere hug and when it ended, Schmidt turned around to pull her chair out for her.

"Thank you." As she sat down, Cece felt butterflies erupt into her stomach. It felt like first date jitters, which confused the hell out of her since this was nowhere near the idea of a date. They were just two friends, out to enjoy a friendly lunch and the pleasure of each other's company. They were starting over.

Before they could exchange any other words, the waitress walked up to their table and placed a menu in front of each of them. "Can I start you guy's off with a drink?" She seemed friendly enough. Schmidt motioned to Cece silently telling her to order first.

"I'll have an iced tea, please."

"Make that two." Schmidt said from his side of the table. The waitress, whose name-tag read Quinn, smiled at both of them before heading back behind the counter to make their drinks.

Schmidt, making good on his promise to give their friendship a real shot, switched his phone to vibrate and set it face down at the end of the table. Out of sight, out of mind. "How're your parents?" He asked. Cece smiled at him. He was always really considerate.

"They're good. I'll bet they're nowhere near as crazy as your cousin though." Cece gave a sly smile.

"Oh god. Don't remind me. Ever since that year he spent Thanksgiving with us, every time we see each other, he tries to drag me into a competition to see 'who's the Manliest'."

"No way!"

"Yes way. It's ridiculous."

"Who usually wins?"

"That's the most embarrassing part…It's always a tie."

Cece threw her head back and let out a short laugh trying to envision the man before her in a series of ridiculous tests and trials to prove his masculinity. Not long after, the waitress came to deliver their drinks and took their lunch order. They both ordered a turkey club sandwich with a side of fries and continued their friendly conversation. Cece once again tried to get Schmidt to admit to her the truth about what happened in the first class lounge back at LAX that led to his outburst, but he wouldn't budge. As the waitress delivered to them their meals, she swore to him that she would get him to tell her before the trip was done. Schmidt waved her off and the two went back to talking and eating their meals.

Over the next twenty minutes the two ate and exchanged friendly banter. With each funny comment and interesting discussion topic, they found themselves growing more and more comfortable in their zone of friendship. It was nice being in each other's company in this capacity. Whenever they were with the rest of the group, it hard for them to get to know the other, but when it was just the two of them, they realized that they had a lot in common.

"So," Schmidt began, "With your parents doing their own thing, what do you got planned for the day?"

Cece shrugged thinking about it. "Um…I don't know. I was kind of thinking about maybe going to Central Park. I've never been there. It might be fun." She tried to skate over the fact that she hadn't been to one of New York's biggest attractions by lowering her voice, knowing that he would make a big deal about it and possibly open herself up to ridicule, but he caught it.

Schmidt dropped the French fry he was getting ready to eat in a grand exaggeration to go along with the look of shock that took hold of his face. "Hold on. Back up. You've never been to Central Park?"

"No, I haven't." Cece said rolling her eyes at his amplified display of surprise.

"How have you never been there? You've been to New York like 80 times."

"I know! It's just that every time I came to New York it was for a modeling job, and after the shoot me and the other models would go to a party or club and just get drunk. It has always bothered me though, I have to admit. There are so many amazing things around this city, I would just love to see it all."

"Well, you're here for nine more days. That's plenty of time to see everything. I say you should go all out and do it."

Cece agreed with him, but was reluctant to tour the city during the holidays by herself. The thought of doing that as a solo mission was already making her feel lonely. "You think so?"

"Hell yeah…In fact…How about I be your tour guide?"

Cece thought he had read her mind. "Really?"

"Absolutely." Schmidt said excitedly. It was a win-win the way he looked at it. He would get to spend more time with Cece, which would help him show her his serious effort in being a good friend, and he had an excuse to avoid his family.

Cece loved the idea, but refused to let herself show it. She also felt guilty about taking up Schmidt's time during his vacation. "Wait…Are you sure? I don't want to keep you from your family."

"Are you kidding? This would be saving me from my family. Besides, this is where I grew up. Who better to show you around?"

Cece allowed a huge, dimple-showing grin cross her lips. "Well then. I would love for you to be my tour guide." She said sweetly while, internally, she was doing backflips.

"Alright. First, we're going to need a game plan." Schmidt looked around the table until he found a clean napkin. With perfect timing, their waitress was walking by. He asked her for a pen, which she had tucked away in the pocket of her apron and was happy to loan him. Taking the cap off of the pen, Schmidt scribbled across the top of the napkin _'NYC Tour'_ and directly underneath it, wrote _'Central Park'_. "Okay," he said looking back up at her, "where else did you want to go?"

Cece was filled with so much excitement that she was drawing a blank. "Umm…Times Square!" she quietly shouted.

Schmidt wrote that down as well, thinking of another special place to add to their growing list. "Okay….Empire State Building?" he asked her.

"Definitely! And…The Statue of Liberty."

"Perfect. Anywhere else?" Cece had another place in mind, but refrained from saying it, wondering to herself if it was a good idea. Schmidt looked up at her and could tell she was holding something back "What?"

She felt silly. "I have another place in mind, but I don't know if it's too much."

"C'mon, out with it." Schmidt insisted.

Cece met his eyes. "Coney Island?" She asked him nervously.

With much eagerness and not an ounce of hesitation he said "Done!" and added it to the list. Just then, the waitress came by once again to check on the couple.

"Anything else I can get you?" She asked looking back and forth between the two. Cece and Schmidt looked at each other and shook their heads. They were so focused planning their excursion, they momentarily forgot where they were.

"No we're okay." Cece said to her nicely.

The waitress nodded her head and smiled back, reaching into the pocket of her apron once more. "Okay, well here's your check. You can pay at the counter when you're ready. Have a good day." She placed the bill at the edge of the table equidistant from both Cece and Schmidt, then walked away.

Before Cece could reach around her water glass to grab the check, Schmidt quickly snatched it off the table.

"Oh no Schmidt, let me get that." Cece pleaded to him. He was already giving up his day to show her around the city, the least she could do was pay for the meal she had invited him to.

Schmidt got up to head to the front counter. "Not a chance." He said smiling slyly at her. "Look over that bucket list and make sure there's nowhere else you want to go."

As he walked away, Cece couldn't believe how contended she was in her ex's presence. She bit the corner of her lower lip trying to suppress the childlike grin her body was desperate to release. For the first time in the longest time she felt like she was at the place she wanted to be with him. They could spend actual time with each other without worrying about any of the issues that normally accompany a romantic relationship.

She was happy that they had this time together. There were sides to Schmidt that only manifested when they were alone, sides she had missed. This trip could be a chance for her to see them again. With any luck, this could be the start to them rebuilding everything that was lost when they last broke up and grant them the opportunity to explore the idea of starting anew. Cece would never admit this to anyone, not even herself, but on the rare occasions that she imagined the way she wanted her life to turn out, Schmidt had always played a substantial role. He was the only one she ever saw herself ending up with and that scared her. Even more so after their latest breakup, when all trust with him was tarnished. As hard as she tried, she couldn't get rid of the residual feelings that were still there, so she pushed them down. She was good at that.

Cece was so lost in thought, staring off into space, that she was startled when Schmidt came up behind her. "You ready to go?" he asked her, not having noticed her jump at the sound of his voice.

She took a second to let her mind readjust then answered. "Yeah" she said standing up. As she gathered her phone and purse off the table, Schmidt grabbed her coat and scarf from across the back of her chair. He helped her put them on and led them out of the restaurant, holding the door open for her as they left.

* * *

 **And there you have it. Again sorry it took so long. Hope you enjoyed. I will have chapter three out as soon as possible. But please, please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. I wanted to make sure it flowed nicely. Hope those of you who are reading it are enjoying it so far. If you have any questions, you know where to find me...enjoy**

* * *

 **Ch. 3 – Walking in the Sun or in the Snow**

The second they stepped outside of the restaurant and back onto the bustling streets of New York City, they were instantly reacquainted with the cold air that had taken hold of the atmosphere. Strangely enough, neither of them needed long to adjust to the climate.

After witnessing several citizens of the alleged 'Greatest City in the World' almost come to blows over hailed taxi cabs, Schmidt had made the suggestion that they walk the six blocks to the park, and Cece was overly eager to concur.

They were around the corner from the park's entrance, giving Schmidt an amusing idea about how to introduce the woman walking alongside him to the enchanting scene that awaited her eyes for the very first time.

He slowed his pace down until he came to a stop. Cece, noticing the sudden lack of presence in the space next to her, grew concerned and turned around to face him. "What's wrong?"

Schmidt's face adapted a lemon-sucking grin as he shook his head. "You know…Cecilia. I just…I don't think you're ready for this." She looked at him, confused. "I mean this is going to be…the most EPIC tour of all time. Can you handle that?" His face was now completely beaming and it dawned on her what he was playing at.

Cece picked up on his demeanor and matched it with total enthusiasm. "Oh…I can handle it." She retorted with that natural confidence she was known for.

Schmidt accepted her answer with a deep nod, preparing himself for what he was about to do next. "I'm glad you said so." He straightened his posture, pretended to adjust an invisible tie on his collar and cleared his throat. "Hello. I'm Schmidt and I will be your incredibly handsome tour guide throughout the great city of New York, also known as 'The Big Apple'." Cece was loving every second of this and the smile on her face told him so. "I would like to inform you that neither I nor the city will be held liable for when your mind is inevitably blown. Now with that being said," Schmidt once again joined Cece's side, this time holding out his arm for her to grab hold of and allow him to lead the way, "let us begin. First stop, Central Park."

In that second, they rounded the corner and were suddenly gazing upon the entrance to the renowned park. The iron archway that announced its namesake was shining bright done up with Christmas lights in tradition with the festive holiday that was upon them. Cece's eyes grew wide while Schmidt's were locked solely on her. By the expression on her face, it was as if she had discovered magic. Then again, spending Christmas in New York, anything was possible.

"Wow." She said in amazement for lack of a better word. She didn't even notice that the traffic light had changed and that it was safe for them to cross the street until Schmidt, still with her arm in his had started walking and got her attention back.

Walking down the pathway, Cece was in awe. Even with the very thin layer of snow that had silently touched down during the night, blanketed the fields and rested on the trees, it was still one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. Her mind abruptly thought back to every film she could remember watching that featured even a second of the location she was now occupying. 'Serendipity', 'When Harry Met Sally', 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', even 'The Muppets Take Manhattan'.

"Oh my god." She was finally able to say. "All the movies I've seen, do not do it justice. This place is beautiful."

"Yeah it is." Schmidt then realized he was staring at her. He couldn't help it. Seeing her smile that way had him in a trance. Maybe there _was_ magic here. He snapped himself out of his daze and returned to his tour guide duties. "First things first. It is an unofficial rule that the first time you visit Central Park, you need to kick things off with a ride on the carousel."

Cece smiled at him. "Lead the way."

There seemed to be something very serene about the park. While everywhere else they had been in the city they would see people acting crazed and psychotic towards one another, that wasn't the case here. The two exes walked along the pathway following the directional signs to the carousel and witnessed nothing but peace and calmness. It was as if the madness that the holidays brought were powerless upon crossing the threshold.

Normally the line for the carousel was long enough to wrap around the attraction two times over, but with the air as cold as it was, they were lucky it was open at all. Thankfully, the line wasn't that long so their wait didn't even last a full five minutes.

As they stepped up onto the platform, Schmidt turned to Cece. "Alright…Pick your steed."

"Okay." Cece said walking through the various animals before she finally found one she liked. It was a black horse with a red and blue saddle and a grey mane. Schmidt helped her up onto the seat, and then got on the tiger that was next to her. She smiled watching him as he checked out how awesome the tiger looked and she was hit with a wave of nostalgia. "Hey." She said to him, prompting him to look over to her. "You remember the last time we were on one of these?"

Schmidt rolled his eyes thinking about his stupidity. "Oh god. Don't remind me. Halloween…Over two years ago. I was crashing on your date with Robbie and annoying the hell out of you."

She chuckled. "Hehe…yup."

"I still think back to that day and cringe." He admitted.

Cece wanted to relieve his embarrassment. "You weren't that bad."

"I was. But I appreciate you saying otherwise."

"Here." Cece was struck with a thought. "I have an idea." She said shuffling through her winter coat looking for her phone.

"What?" Schmidt asked just as she found it and pulled it out.

"How about we make a new Merry-Go-Round memory? A happy one." Schmidt thought it over internally and liked where she was going with the idea. Cece hit the camera app on her phone and held it out ready to take a selfie, finding Schmidt in the background with her screen. "Say cheese." Together they smiled and posed for the camera. When the picture had snapped, the ride began to move and the music started to play. Cece switched the camera to video mode and recorded most of the ride. She got footage of them both smiling and waving at the camera and Schmidt acting foolish by pretending he was a jockey riding a real tiger. It made her laugh so hard the camera had begun to shake. She ended the video by blowing a kiss into the lens and getting one last shot of them waving goodbye yelling 'Merry Christmas!'

After the carousel ride ended, the next stop was the famous Central Park Zoo. Cece couldn't remember the last time that she had been to a zoo. She felt just like a kid again. They must have stopped at every animal exhibit. Schmidt was in awe of the way she completely lit up at each stop. When they reached the penguins, she watched how they waddled and flopped all over the place and immediately became hysterical. She was helpless against herself.

That amazing sound was music to Schmidt's ears. He hadn't heard her genuine laugh in the longest time and he missed it dearly. His eyes were glued to her and every move she made. The dimples that formed on her cheeks when she flashed her full smile, the way her nose crinkled and her head fell back, causing her shoulders to shake.

Next they came upon the polar bear habitat and saw one of the bears sprawled out on a large rock sleeping. Schmidt turned to Cece. "Look at that. The bear is lazier than Nick Miller. That's incredible." She started to chuckle at the joke. After her laughing fit at the penguins, her stomach muscles were aching so that was all she could muster. Cece was so amused that without thinking about it or realizing it, she started to lean her head into his shoulder.

Schmidt turned his head towards her and his nose was less than a centimeter away from her hair. As he inhaled, he smelled that familiar heavenly scent and wanted so badly to wrap his arms around her and pull her close, but he had to remind himself that he couldn't do that anymore. All those privileges had been revoked. Schmidt closed his eyes and took a deep breathe to allow his impulse to subside. He opened them just in time to notice that Cece had begun to move on to the seals and follow close behind her.

They spent the next few hours touring the rest of the park. Cece found a photo opportunity at every stop. Schmidt was more than happy to be her subject. He was the master at wacky poses and had even gotten her to join in on a few. People passing by would see them and either smile at their carefree nature or give them puzzled looks. Neither of them had noticed, however. They were enjoying themselves as they gave in to their inner child.

After walking every square inch of the area, they used what was left of the sun as it was setting to guide their way out. There was a short lull in conversation and that's when Schmidt heard Cece's stomach let out a thundering growl. "Ugh!" she exclaimed loudly. "I'm starving!"

"Me too. And I think I know just the place."

* * *

 **Angelo's Pizzeria – Twenty Minutes Later**

Schmidt sat on his side of the table with his eyes focused intently on Cece, patiently awaiting her reaction. He had been to Angelo's Pizzeria a million times when he was growing up and insisted that it was a contributing factor to his childhood obesity. As she raised her first slice closer to her mouth, Schmidt was on the edge of his seat. She took a bite, chewed it for a second, then closed her eyes and moaned in satisfaction.

Cece was in heaven. One of the best parts about her decision to give up modeling was the fact that she was now able to eat whatever she wanted. What she missed eating the most was pizza. It was by far her favorite and nothing she ever had could hold a candle to the slice she was currently enjoying.

With a full mouth, she looked up at Schmidt and said, "Oh my god!"

"I told you." He responded picking up a slice for himself and taking a bite.

"You were right. This has got to be…the best pizza I ever had. _And_ I've been to Italy."

"Well I think Angelo is an Italian immigrant…If that counts for anything."

"Mmhhm." She responded though she wasn't really listening. Her mouth was still full.

The two sat in silence for a long while, but it wasn't that uncomfortable silence that felt awkward. They were simply enjoying a meal together. It was actually kind of nice.

Cece swallowed the last bite of her third slice and grabbed a napkin. "Okay." She said, wiping her hands and mouth. "So…What's on the agenda for tomorrow? What do we got?"

Schmidt washed down his food with a swig of soda before pulling out the bucket list napkin from earlier and set it on the table for the both of them to see. "Alright…I figure we can get kind of an early start so we can cross a bunch of places off the list. Umm…We can start with Times Square then check out Carnegie Hall, Statue of Liberty – "

"Empire State Building." Cece interjected. She was excited to continue this amazing adventure she had embarked on with him. "We _have_ to go there."

"Absolutely."

Both of their thoughts were interrupted when Cece's phone had started to ring. "I'm sorry." She said to Schmidt. She felt like she was being rude, but he couldn't care less.

"Oh it's all good." After a quick struggle of locating her phone and pulling it out of her jacket, she checked the caller ID. "It's a friend I met back when I was modeling." Schmidt made a motion with his hand telling her he didn't mind if she answered. She didn't need to apologize, it's not like they were on a date. "Hey Mia…Yeah, I'm in New York for the Holiday's…Having pizza with a friend of mine," As soon as that word left her lips, she looked up at Schmidt and gave him the sweetest of smiles. "Why, what's up?…Oh you know, I'm not really in the clubbin' mood" Once again she glanced at Schmidt. "…Nah, I just don't feel like it, I'm sorry…Thanks for the invite though…Yeah, I'll see you later…Okay, bye."

Cece hung up the phone and set it on the table face down. "Sorry about that. She was inviting me to some club for this launch party. For what, I have no idea."

"You didn't say no because of me, right? Cause if you wanna go, you should…Don't worry about me."

"Oh…No. That's not it. I'm just… I'm over the whole partying every night, getting drunk, out 'til 2 AM thing. It's just not fun anymore. And besides, I'm having a really great time with you. This is the most fun I've had in _so_ long."

Schmidt smiled to himself briefly then looked back up at her. "Well I'm having a great time with you too."

Together, they held the connection their eyes shared as well as the smiles. To them, nobody else existed. Cece felt her defenses weaken as she was overcome with the desire to reach over the table and kiss him. All her better judgement told her not to. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin the friendship they both worked so hard for.

Thankfully, Cece's phone started to ring again. With equal parts relief and annoyance, Cece rolled her eyes and hastily grabbed her phone to answer, assuming its Mia again. "Mia I'm serious, I'm not interested…Oh, hi mom" She gave Schmidt a regretful look at her mistake. "…No I'm okay…I'm having dinner with a friend of mine…I had a really great day" Once again, she glanced in her ex's direction and sent a loving smile along with it. "… Alright, I'll be back soon…Okay, bye."

As she hung up and set her phone back down, let out a quick sigh. "Let's get you back to your hotel." He said.

Cece nodded in agreement. "Alright."

Just as he did earlier that day at their lunch date, Schmidt had helped Cece with her coat and scarf and held the door open for her. Outside, Schmidt left Cece on the sidewalk as he stepped out off of the curb to hail a taxi, but there were none in sight.

"It shouldn't be too hard getting a cab." Schmidt said looking up and down the boulevard, searching for a yellow vehicle beneath the glow of the street lamps.

"Well, you know, it's not that cold out, and my hotel isn't that far from here. You okay with walking?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." Schmidt stepped back up onto the curb and joined Cece on the sidewalk and they started making their way back to her hotel on foot. Out of a habit that they had developed over the past few hours, Cece looped her arm through his while they strolled down the block. It never really registered in their minds, it was just something they did instinctively that was familiar.

"Good because I also need to work off that pizza. I can't believe I ate three slices."

"Me either. I didn't know you could eat like that."

"Well…it was just _so_ good."

* * *

During their walk, the two were immersed in conversation that was nothing more than trivial chit chat. There were moments of laughter and that of nostalgia. The more they talked, the more they learned things about one another that they had never noticed before or had somehow forgotten along the way.

Rounding the corner on 6th Avenue onto 50th Street, Cece had noticed bright lights up ahead and became intrigued. The closer they got, the brighter the lights seemed to shine, and then finally they passed the last building and were met with a sight that caused Cece's jaw to drop.

Cece saw the seventy-five foot tall Christmas tree in the middle of Rockefeller Center all done up and decorated with lights and ornaments and grew speechless. Schmidt looked over at her with astonishment all over her face. He had seen that look on her all day, but every time, was like the first.

"Oh my god! It's gorgeous!"

They walked through the plaza a ways, turned the corner on 48th street and saw the ice rink, prompting the lightbulb in Schmidt's head to flash on. "Hey…Why don't we go skating?" He said turning to face Cece.

She looked over at him and replaced the excitement on her face with nervousness. "Umm…no that's okay." Her voice got a little higher and he knew something was off.

"Come on, why not? It'll be fun."

"Well…Umm…I-I just…"She was stammering, unable to complete a full sentence. It was so out of character for her. That coupled with her obvious uneasiness, caused Schmidt to become concerned.

"Cece, what's wrong?" He asked her with the most sincere voice.

She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes, afraid that when she did, she wouldn't be able to pretend everything was fine. "Nothing."

Schmidt looked her dead in the eyes. "Cece…I know you. What is it? You can tell me." Cece bit the corner of her bottom lip. His gorgeous hazel eyes were Kryptonite against her emotional walls.

It took her a second to grab the courage to tell him, before she just decided to throw caution to the wind. "I…I don't know how to ice skate."

He was somewhat shocked, but understood her reluctance. "Really?" he asked, trying not to make it sound like a big deal.

"Yeah…I've never been." Her embarrassment was evident. Schmidt found it kind of charming.

"So then I'll teach you." He offered.

"Really?"

"Of course I will." He said removing his hand from his pocket and held it out for her to take. "Do you trust me?"

There's that word again, Cece thought, trust. Hearing him say it the day before had her mind into a freefall contemplating how much she could trust him, if at all. But here and now, she didn't even need to think it over. Something had changed.

"Yes." She said without hesitating and put her hand in his.

"Then there's nothing to be scared of." He tightened his hold on her for reassurance and led her to the stand to rent a pair of skates.

Normally, Cece was great at not letting her fear show, but at this moment, she wore it on her sleeve for all to see. Schmidt was right by her side every step of the way. He rented the both of them a pair of skates in their respective sizes and helped Cece put them on showing her how to tie them. Slowly and carefully, they made their way to the wall surrounding the rink. Schmidt felt guilty that he was getting a kick out of watching her attempt to walk in her skates. He had seen this woman practically run in six inch stilettos and look completely graceful while doing so, yet this was a challenging feat for her.

Schmidt stepped out onto the ice, clearly having done this many times before, and turned to face her at an arm length away. Standing at the rink opening, Cece, overcome with nervousness, had stopped dead in her tracks, completely frozen. Schmidt had never seen her like this. He didn't think she was scared of anything. If there were ever a time to be patient and understanding, now was it.

"Hey, look. We don't have to do this if you don't want to." He offered. The last thing he wanted was to ruin the great day they were having by pushing her too far.

"No…no. I'm okay. I want to. I just….Give me a minute."

"Alright. Just take your time. I'm right here." It was like they were back on the plane. She closed her eyes trying to go to her happy place, and took quick deep breaths. Slowly, she was calming herself down. So much so that she decided to place one foot in the rink. Cece lifted her right foot moving it forward until it was hovering over the ice. Little by little, she lowered it, getting closer to the slippery surface. Schmidt just watched in fascination not saying a word. The blade on her skate was a few inches away from touching back down when suddenly…she pulled it back and set it right back down on the solid surface she was comfortable with.

"What if I fall?" she asked innocently.

"I'm not going to let you." For him, they weren't just words, it was his pledge. He would never let anything happen to her.

"Are you sure?"

He slid himself closer to her. "Cece look at me…" she looked up and met his gaze. "I'm not going to let you fall."

Cece could tell he was telling the truth. She always could read him, and what she was seeing written on his face and in his eyes, was that he would never let anything bad happen to her. Not again. She believed him. "Okay." She said nodding. He put both of his hands out in front of her. When she grabbed on to them, all her fears and doubt had subsided. Without giving it a second thought, she placed her feet one by one onto the ice.

Schmidt skated backwards, pulling her along giving her a feel for the rink. "Okay, so lift your feet one by one and just let them glide."

"Okay." Her voice was quavering, but she forced herself to give it a shot. Her entire life, she tried to make a habit out of doing the things that scared her. It's how she became the woman that she was. People always thought that her tough exterior was something she was born with, but it was something she had acquired. She would face her fear until she mastered it and she was no longer scared. This occasion was just like all the other ones, the only difference was that this time she wasn't alone.

One after the other she picked up her feet but wasn't gliding just yet. It was more of an awkward shuffle. "Use your back foot to push off and let your front foot guide you." Doing just as she was instructed, she gradually started to slide her feet across the ice as elegantly as her body could allow herself. "Just like that…there you go. You're getting it. Cece, you're doing great."

Feeling his grip on her hands loosen up, she clutched tighter out of panic. "Wait! Don't let go just yet!" she yelled.

Schmidt tried to hide his snicker, but it was refreshingly cute seeing her get unnerved. "I wouldn't dream of it."

They continue to skate face to face for a little while longer to allow Cece to get more acclimated and help her relax. Every few seconds, he would throw compliments and words of encouragement her way to loosen her up.

"You think you're ready for me to let go?" he asked trying to gauge where she was at.

"Kind of, I guess. But not entirely." She was feeling good about her progress, but not nearly ready to venture out on her own just yet.

"How about this…" Schmidt began offering up possible solution. "We let go of one arm and I skate alongside of you?"

Cece contemplated the idea and didn't totally hate it. "I can do that. But you'll still be holding my hand though, right?"

"I will."

Schmidt waited for Cece to be ready to let go of one of his arms. He was surprised that she didn't take as long as he had expected. She felt her anxiety diminish as he took his place by her side, holding onto each other's hand with their fingers interlaced, getting whatever contact they could through their winter gloves.

"So are you having fun?"

"I am."

"Good, I'm glad."

"So how did you learn to ice skate?" She asked trying to take her mind off of her fear of falling. She figured the less she thought about it, the less likely it would be to occur.

"I'm not telling you."

"What? Why not?"

"Because…it's an embarrassing story." That only made her more intrigued. It was unlike Schmidt not to confide in her, and it wasn't as if he hadn't ever told her embarrassing stories of himself. Cece still thought of him and laughed every time she saw a cat of any kind.

"Oh come on Schmidt. Tell me…Please?" She decided to utilize her greatest weapon against the egotistical aspiring millionaire. No matter what the circumstances, she knew he could never defend himself against a look he named the 'Naughty Baby Indian'.

"Oh please don't do the naughty baby Indian look. You know I'm powerless against that." He tried to look away, but it had been almost a long while since she had looked at him that way and after all this time, here it was. He couldn't resist.

Cece knew it was a matter of time before he felt compelled to look back over at her. She figured she may as well lay it on thick and bat her eyelashes just to drive him nuts.

It worked. "Fine." He said after ignoring his better judgement and turning his head to face back towards her. "When I was a kid my mom put me in figure skating lessons."

"No way!" Somehow Cece found herself surprised.

"Yes way." He said with a sullen tone, annoyed with himself for having given in to her manipulation.

"Aww…poor little Schmidt." Cece was enjoying this little taunting game she was playing with him, but more than that, she found this new piece of information she learned about him interesting. "So…How long did that last?"

"Until I was thirteen."

"Why thirteen?"

"That's when she sobered up and realized I was a boy." Schmidt had uttered that statement so nonchalantly, that Cece couldn't do anything to prevent the fit of hysterics that forced its way out of her. He had known her long enough to anticipate her laughter and was certain that it would last for a few minutes longer, so all he could do was nod along.

Something had come over Cece. Her laugh had taken on the same form it had earlier that day at the zoo when she was watching the penguins. She momentarily forgot where she was and what she was doing, and allowed herself to let her body give in to the merriment she was undergoing. As it usually did during moments such as these, her head fell back, her shoulders along with it as they heaved up and down. But she let it fall too far, causing the rest of her body to follow suit. The skates felt like they were sliding out from underneath her. It all seemed to happen so fast yet so slow at the same time. Cece felt like a character from Scooby-doo slipping in oil.

Schmidt saw her falling and just reacted. When she was in trouble, it was his second nature to come to her rescue. Swiftly, he tightened the grip he had on their already joined hands and pulled her towards him, bringing her close. Her body slung into his as he used his free arm to catch her. Once their bodies were joined, Schmidt stiffened his legs to brace their weight from the momentum and prevent them both from falling.

After confirming their safety they stood there for a moment, hugging each other. Cece opened her eyes and looked up at Schmidt who did the same. Sharing a look of relief, they both start to laugh at the near miss. Cece, having learned her lesson, laughed into him, putting her head into the crook of his neck. Instinctively, Schmidt just held her tighter.

Her nose became tickled with his scent forcing her reminiscence. They look up at one another noticing their faces are incredibly close. In that moment, neither of them were thinking with their minds, only their emotions. Slowly, they lean in, giving in to the craving their lips had for each other's. Both of their hearts where racing, beating a mile a minute, but in complete unison with the other's. Just as they are about to kiss, they were startled and interrupted by a voice sounding over the intercom.

"Hey folks. Hope you guys have been having a great night, but unfortunately we have to call last skate. This is going to be the final song of the night, so spend it well." The man in the booth had a fondness for being literal. For the last song of the night, he decided to play 'Closing Time' by the band Semisonic.

Schmidt looked down at Cece once again. "I think that's enough excitement for one night. You ready to get out of here?" Cece nodded thinking the same.

"Yeah."

Still hand-in-hand, Schmidt leads them back to the rink wall opening where they first came out of. He helped her take off her skates and returned them to the counter as she readied herself to go. They make their way to leave, when Cece is reminded of something.

"Hang on." She says to him, stopping them both in their tracks. She fishes around through her coat to find her phone. Once he sees it, he too is reminded that they never got a picture of the two of them at this location. He walked back towards her and posed by her side as he had all day. Cece held the phone out ready to take a selfie.

"Try to get the rink in the background." He suggested to her, but she was way ahead of him. Problem was she was having trouble getting the right shot.

"I'm trying, but I can't get the right angle." She said struggling. Not too far away, an older woman who had noticed what they were attempting to do, and offered her services.

"Would you like me to take it?" Cece was grateful at her timing, mentally thanking whatever higher power there was for sending her to them.

"Oh. Thank you so much." She said to the woman as she handed her the phone, before turning back to Schmidt getting ready to pose alongside him. As she situated herself next to him, Schmidt threw his arm around her shoulders. Cece decided to wrap her arms around him and hug him.

The woman captured a few photos of the smiling couple. "You two make such a gorgeous couple." She said with a smile when she handed the phone back. Both of them were taken aback at the sound of that word, couple.

"Thank you." Cece hesitantly responded. They three of them all exchanged a round of 'Merry Christmases' as they all parted ways.

* * *

They had finally made it to her hotel and said their goodbyes after having made plans to meet the next morning to continue their escapade. Once he saw that Cece made it inside safely, Schmidt flagged down a cab to take him back to his cousin's house in Queens.

Heading up to her room, Cece was stuck in a trance. Her body was on auto-pilot as she stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button for the floor she was on. The only thing on her mind was how great her day had been spent with the only guy she ever truly cared about and how much she had already started to miss him. Over and over again, her mind replayed the moment leading up to the kiss they almost shared. Leaning back on the elevator wall, she smiled to herself. It was days such as these that answered any questions about why she fell for him. He was the most sweet, caring and considerate guy. Cece felt herself blushing just thinking about him and excitedly anticipating their plans for tomorrow. It was then that she realized that all the residual feelings she had for him that she kept buried were breaking themselves out and making their way to the surface. Part of her wanted to ignore them for obvious reasons, but there was a voice in her head that caused her to question her impulse to do so.

She'd been looking for something to tell her that she could trust him, something that would allow her to get back to where she wanted to be with him. Seeing him embrace their friendship the way he did today spoke volumes. He was committed to making up for the way he hurt her and was more than willing to be patient in the meantime. For that, Cece decided to let her feelings venture within her, for now. It seemed like a good way to gauge her affections towards him. Perhaps it would be easier to assess the prospect of 'them' while it was just the two of them away from the group.

The entire cab ride, Schmidt sat quietly in the back seat mentally kicking himself as he thought about what almost happened earlier. All in all, he enjoyed the day they spent together and loved that she seemed to have fun as well, but he came dangerously close to ruining all the progress they had made.

He made a vow to be nothing but a great friend to her; however, every opportunity that presented itself to do just that had been fueled by his unwavering feelings for her. He started to think about what it would be like if he lost her for good, using that as an incentive to stay the course. The rest of their time together on this trip, he would be nothing short of the perfect friend.

* * *

 **Chapter 4 will be out as soon as possible so please be patient and let me know what you think about it so far. Thanks you guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So sorry that took so long. I wanted to have this chapter out a lot sooner, but work was keeping me crazy busy and when I tried to write I got hit with writers block. Anyway hope you guys like this chapter, and I also hope your holidays went well. Let me know what you think.**

* * *

 **It's A Picture Perfect Moment Captured**

For the first time since arriving in New York, Cece slept like a baby. The only interruption that came was the sound of the alarm clock on the nightstand ringing at 7:30 as she had set it the night before. In any other circumstance, she would have hit the snooze button several times or even thrown the clock clear across the room until it shattered into a thousand pieces and the noise ceased, but today was different.

Instead of waking up irritated and exhausted, hating the world, she felt refreshed. She welcomed the day with excitement and was anxious for what it was sure to bring. She and Schmidt had made plans to meet in front of her hotel at 9 am to get an early start and cross a lot of places off their list. The second he dropped her off, it was all she could think about.

Going through her normal morning routine, Cece had a little more pep in her step. She had even found herself singing Ellie Goulding's 'Love Me like You Do' in the shower at the top of her lungs. That was new behavior on her part. Chances were some of Jess' eccentric traits were rubbing off on her.

It was 8:40 and Cece had ran into a dilemma that had the potential to ruin her day before it even started. Sprawled all across her bed was every single article of clothing she had packed for this trip. Looking at all the various tops, coats, pants and boots that were chaotically strewn about, she tried to piece together the perfect outfit. She needed something that would not only keep her warm during the hectic east coast winter, but would also allow her to showcase her figure in the subtlest of manners. It was important to her that she looked her best today, because during the course of her euphoria associated slumber, she had a dream that was far unlike any other she remembered having.

 _They were completely alone. Not a single soul was in sight. The only lights shining other than the neighboring buildings were that of the Christmas lights hung just above the rink wall surrounding the entire ice. It was the most romantic setting she had ever seen. In the center of the arena they stood, as the snow softly fell above them, lost in each other's eyes, oblivious to all else. Cece had her arms wrapped around his neck while his hands rested on her waist. Together they swayed side to side, gliding all over the ice. The blades from their skates allowed them the grace to dance in perfect unity. He spun her around and pulled her in close, hugging her. Once again looking into those beautiful brown eyes, he leaned in and pressed his lips gently on hers. Feeling that connection for the first time in years, she gave in to him. That passions spread throughout them both. He pulled away and cupped her face in his palms. "I Love You Cecilia." Hearing her name escape his lips, she smiled. "I Love you, Schmidt."_

Typically, upon waking up, any dreams she experienced throughout the night would fade away without leaving a trace, but today, the minute her eyes opened and she shut off her alarm, Cece could recount every second. With every blink her eyelids naturally executed, she would see glimpses dance across the brief darkness. Accompanying those momentary flashes were the emotions that went along with them. She could still feel his lips touching hers and his hands caressing her cheeks. Her spine began to tingle at the mere thought of it. After contemplating it all morning, Cece had made a decision right then and there. The fun she had been having with him this trip and the dream she had last night helped her realize that she missed Schmidt more than she ever thought and she wanted to be with him. Today, she was going to tell him just that.

Part of her worried that maybe it was too soon. She had made a big deal about wanting to start completely over and allow them the opportunity to rebuild that trust that had been lost. She certainly didn't plan on this happening. Perhaps, if you spend so much time ignoring your true feelings, eventually they're going to come back with a vengeance. Cece wanted to put it all out there and hope he felt the same, but the idea of that terrified her. Thinking back to a few years ago when the roles were reversed, she knew there was a strong possibility of rejection and she wasn't sure she could survive that. Now she was at a loss. Wanting to play it safe, she told herself to find a way to see where his head was at before opening up to him. The last thing she wanted to do was put her heart in a position to be broken by the one and only person who had the power to break it.

She hadn't realized how long she had been taking to pick an outfit until she looked back at the clock and it said 8:56. There was no way she would find an outfit she absolutely loved if she hadn't done so by now. Scanning the top of the hotel room bed she grabbed a top she liked best and the pants that would match it well enough. Cece predicted a lot of walking around throughout the day so she opted for the 3-inch black stiletto boots in lieu of the 6-inched ones. She checked her hair and makeup one last time in the bathroom mirror, then hastily grabbed her pea coat, scarf and gloves and ran out the door towards the elevator.

* * *

Downstairs

Schmidt took a long swig of his mildly hot coffee gladly running the risk of burning his tongue, hoping to feel the effects of the caffeine take root in record time. In a twisted turn of events that were lost on him, the night hadn't been as restful for him as it had for the beautiful brunette he was waiting on. Staring at the ceiling from his spot on his cousin's couch, Schmidt spent all night thinking about how foolish he had been and how he was on the verge of ruining a great thing. He told himself to be more cautious from here on out. Being friends with Cece meant the world to him. He wasn't going to get in his own way this time.

Taking another big sip of his coffee, Schmidt realized he was anxious to see her. Aside from the way last night had ended, he was truly enjoying this trip. Normally, he loathed his returns to his hometown and found any excuses not to go, but this time around he forgot all about that.

Schmidt checked his watch reading 9:07 and smiled to himself. Over the years, he had come to expect Cece to be fashionably late no matter where she was headed. Suddenly, compelled by some unknown reason, Schmidt looked back toward the doors of the hotel just as Cece emerged from them looking as beautiful as ever. At that precise moment, there was a small break in the clouds allowing a sliver of the sun's rays to peek through them, between the tall buildings and land like a spotlight on the gorgeous woman before him. The light hit her at just the right angle to illuminate her eyes and reveal the sparkle. She looked as radiant as ever causing Schmidt to stare at her in absolute fascination, convinced that what he believed the first time he met her was true. She was an angel sent down from heaven and placed into his life to change it for the better.

The second she saw him, she felt her heart literally skip a beat. Her stomach fluttered and she momentarily lost her breath. Suddenly, being in his presence blurred the line of her dream and this reality. Everything her mind experienced last night seemed like it really happened. It took everything she had not to walk straight up to him and kiss him right there on the spot.

"Good morning Cecilia." She looked at him and smiled. Her entire life she couldn't stand it when anyone called her by her full name, but coming from his lips, spoken in his voice, she loved hearing it.

"Hey, sorry I'm late."

"Oh, no worries." He said shrugging it off. He could wait for her forever and not mind it. As a form of reflex, Cece leaned in for a hug. It only lasted a second, but it was enough for her for the time being.

She broke their embrace and took a step back. Doing so, Schmidt held out a coffee cup with her name written on it in sharpie. "Mocha double latte with extra foam."

"Thank you." She said grabbing it from him. The drink was still incredibly hot and warmed her hands. As she took a careful sip to gauge the temperature and warm her stomach, Schmidt then held out a white paper bag.

"And a blueberry bagel with light cream cheese."

Cece was beyond flattered at his thoughtfulness. "You remembered?"

"Always. You ready for today?"

"Sure am. Where to first?"

"Times Square."

"Let's do it." As she had predicted earlier, they had decided to walk the few blocks it took to get to Times Square. The holiday craziness was still in full swing. Walking seemed safer and quicker than hailing a cab.

* * *

Cece stood at the busy intersection at seventh and W. 44th, completely still, watching the world pass her by. All around her the city's inhabitants shuffled with a collective excitement. She could smell grilled hot dogs, soft pretzels and roasted peanuts waft through the air from the street vendors all around. Her ears were inundated with the noises of everyday life. Car horns honked at careless pedestrians who screamed back as they zig-zagged between a fleet of yellow cabs, making their way across to the safe haven of sidewalk a few feet away.

"You know the billboards look even better at night." Schmidt told her as he watched her take it all in. "Everything's all lit up and bright. It's really amazing."

"We can see it tomorrow right? My parents want me to meet them here for that holiday festival."

"Thus ending our sightseeing excursion of this great city." Cece detected a bit of disappointment in his tone. She wasn't thrilled that their time together on this trip would be over after tomorrow, and sensing that he felt the same brought her that much more courage to go through with opening up to him.

Knowing that she definitely wanted to remember this day by taking as many photos as possible, Schmidt asked her to make a quick stop before gallivanting all around the area. He took her to a convenience store gift shop that many tourists frequent to buy novelty key chains and 'I love New York' t-shirts to take back home with them. What he decided to get was far less idiotic.

Thinking back to the previous nights failed attempt at capturing a decent photo of the two of them at the ice rink on their own, Schmidt thought it would be a wise investment to buy them a selfie stick.

After about fifteen minutes of maneuvering through dozens of other customers and waiting in a long line, Schmidt met Cece outside the store and showed her the surprise purchase he was sure she'd love. And she did. Once they attached her phone to the holster on the end, the first thing she did was raise it as high as her arms would allow and snapped a photo of the two of them while pedestrians walked all around them.

Continuing with their newly formed tradition from the last few days, Cece and Schmidt adventured all about the famous area, finding a photo opportunity every few feet. Most of them were traditional tourist pictures posing in front of signs and known buildings. Others, of course, were the two acting goofy trying to get the other to laugh.

Their first official stop was Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Even during the daytime, the giant neon sign being held up by the large hands just above the doors had beckoned them to it. Once inside, Schmidt both each of them VIP tickets, allowing them to forgo the long lines. As much fun as she was having, Cece had pointed out how freakishly realistic some of them looked. Part of her was expecting just one of the statues to move and scream boo. Thankfully, however, none of them did.

When they came upon the statue of Don Draper in Mad Men in a replica of his office, Schmidt went nuts. He was the embodiment of the type of businessman he tried to emulate every day. Like a kid seeing Santa for the first time, Schmidt could hardly contain his enthusiasm. His face was beaming as he sat in the chair behind the desk trying to think of the perfect pose to capture in this moment. Cece just stood there watching him with the most loving smile. Seeing him this happy, all she could think about was how adorable he was. She was so fixed on him, she almost forgot to take the picture. After every snap of a photo, Schmidt would switch to a different pose, of which he had many.

Finally, it dawned on him that they had been there for several minutes. "Sorry about that, I got kind of carried away." He said with the smile on his face even bigger than before. Cece couldn't care less. "Let's keep going."

They spent another hour looking at all the celebrity wax clones, admiring the detail and precision it took to make them look as realistic as they had appeared. With every statue they saw, Cece and Schmidt would both take a photo in a stance that seemed uniquely fitting to each one of them.

Their next destination didn't take them far as it was literally right next door. Ripley's Believe it or Not! Odditorium. Most of the exhibits they passed were creepy and peculiar. From the shrunken heads to the two headed sheep, there were plenty of ways to scare the hell out of Cece and Schmidt took full advantage of each one. He would come up behind her and grab her yelling boo, or reach around her and tickle her ear sending chills up her spine. At first she would scream and jump, then she would laugh and even playfully hit him. With every slap on the arm she was silently telling him she was having a good time.

...Two hours later

Cece looked up and down the street, scanning every sign trying to make sure there wasn't a place they had missed. Looking all around her and recounting everything they had done so far, she was certain they had been to each and every attraction that piqued their interest. Schmidt walked up behind her distracted by his phone. He hit the send button on a text he was replying to from his cousin telling him that he would be back later that night and shoved it back into his pocket.

"Okay," Cece began scanning the street one final time for good measure. "I think we hit everything. Empire State Building's next right?"

"Actually, there's one last thing I want to show you."

...Ten Minutes Later

"What is this?" Cece asked. Before her stood a section of wall that above read in pink neon 'Hopes & Dreams'. Underneath was a collection of post-it notes in various colors pinned and tacked to it.

"It's called the 'Wishing Wall'." Schmidt told her. "Basically people come here, write something they wish for the new year. Then on New Year's Eve, after the countdown and the ball drop, they use these as confetti and shoot it out over everyone in Times Square at midnight."

"That sounds amazing." Cece's eyes tried to read some of the wishes, most of which seemed pretty normal. People wished to lose weight, travel more, or find someone to love them. They were things everybody thought about daily.

Schmidt grabbed them each a pen and paper from a stand nearby. He handed one to Cece. "Here." He said. "How about we both put one up?"

Cece was hesitant. She had no idea what she should wish for. Her life at the present moment wasn't glamorous and exciting, but it wasn't horrible. She had a somewhat decent, albeit mediocre, job. She had committed to going back to school and was actually doing pretty well. There wasn't much to complain about. She looked over to Schmidt who looked to be struggling to find a wish as well. That's went inspiration hit her. If there was one thing in her current life that she wanted to change more than anything, it was her relationship with the man standing beside her. Roaming around the neighborhood for the better half of the morning had temporarily distracted her from what she set out that morning to do. Cece wondered if now was a good time to bring up the subject of them, but when she opened her mouth, all that escaped was silence.

Schmidt hadn't noticed that there was something on her mind. He had his wish in his head but was trying to decide a proper way to phrase it, knowing that everything he wanted to say would never fit onto that tiny sticky note. Side by side, they both stood there awkwardly trying to find the perfect thing to write. Simultaneously, they looked to each other, their eyes meeting instantaneously igniting a spark in their heads. Both of them turned back to their papers and wrote down their wishes and signed their names. Hoping for the other not to see what they wrote, they each went to opposite ends of the wall to pin theirs up, then met right back where they had been standing.

"Ready to go?" Schmidt asked turning towards Cece. She nodded her head anxious to get out of there before Schmidt tried to sneak a peek at what she wrote. They made their way back out onto the street and flagged down a cab to take them to the next destination on their list.

"So…What'd you wish for?" Schmidt asked trying to sound innocent. Cece was a vault. Whenever she had a secret, she had the strong will necessary to take it with her to the grave.

"Not gonna tell you Schmidt."

"Please." She looked over at him. He was attempting to imitate the 'Naughty Baby Indian' look that, when used on him, had the power to act as a truth serum, but it would take a hell of a lot more than that to get her to divulge anything.

"What makes you think that would work on me?"

Schmidt laughed and returned his face back to normal. "Figured I'd give it a shot." They both laughed and enjoyed the rest of the cab ride taking them to the Empire State Building.

* * *

Empire State Building

As beautiful as the building looked from the outside, the interior of the lobby was absolutely breath taking. From wall to wall, everything was marble. It glistened from the lights. The murals that were etched into the walls and ceiling were magnificent. Cece felt like she was in a dream.

"This…is so beautiful." She said to Schmidt.

He took her by the hand and led her towards the elevators, taking them up to the Visitor's Center on the second floor. When they reached the ticket counter, Schmidt had already ordered them tickets ahead of time and presented his ID to claim them.

"You got us tickets already?" Cece asked only half shocked, part of her was used to his suave skills.

"Of course." He said with a touch of pride. The man behind the counter gave them their multi-media handheld devices and informed them that it'll be about a ten minute wait for the next tour to get started. It seemed reasonable enough, so the two got in line.

"So how high up does this go?" Cece asked trying to spark a conversation.

"Well there's the Main deck on the 86th floor, and then there's the Top deck on the 102nd floor."

Imagining being that high up had Cece's stomach tying itself up in knots. "Wow….That's pretty high up there."

Schmidt heard the trepidation in her voice. "You going to be okay?"

"Yeah. Just a little bit of nerves. I'm good."

"We don't have to go up there if you don't want to."

"No I want to go. I don't want to let a small fear of heights prevent me from doing things like this. I'll be okay."

"Alright."

"Actually. Since we're waiting. I wanted to talk to you about something."

Schmidt gave her his full attention. "What's on your mind?"

"Well…Last night at the skating rink…we kind of….almost…"

"Yeah I know. I wanted to apologize about that."

"Apologize?"

"Yeah. I let myself get caught up in the moment and I wasn't thinking. It won't happen again, I promise. You made it very clear that you just want to be friends and I get that, and I value that friendship so much so I don't want to do anything to screw that up. The main reason I wanted to do this whole tour thing with you is because I wanted to show you that I can be your friend. Someone you can trust, that you can count on and turn to no matter what."

Cece took a second to digest it all. She knew he had been working overtime trying to prove they can make this whole friends thing work, but hearing him talk about it, made it seem as though that was as far as he was expecting to go. To be just friends and nothing more. Cece realized that that was her doing. She had been so adamant on needing her space from him that she didn't realize that she had been closing the door on them completely and he got the hint. "I'm seeing that. And for the record…You are a really great friend." He smiled at her. It was exactly what he needed to hear.

Unfortunately, however, she had now been discouraged from the idea of making an attempt to try and reconcile. She wasn't sure it was a good plan anymore. Given everything that has happened with them, she thought bringing it up now would do nothing but cause confusion for him and she hated the idea of constantly going back and forth.

It had been a very informative tour. Through all the exhibits and presentations the two of them had learned so much about the history of the city's famous landmark. But once the elevator doors opened and they stepped out onto the main deck on the 86th floor, they were looking out to a view unlike anything that either of them had ever seen before. Exiting the elevator and venturing out to the railing, Cece and Schmidt felt a subtle chill breeze blow by, causing them to tighten their coats.

Being that high up, Cece was emotionally torn as she was equal parts scared and amazed. She looked down gazing upon the entire city as it stretched out into the horizon and up into the sky. Buildings that had loomed above them on the street now looked like figurines as they stood in the distance.

Schmidt had directed them to one of the vintage viewfinders that was no longer being occupied and rushed to claim it before someone else beat him to it. As Cece looked through it, he pointed out various parts of Manhattan that were visible as well as each of the bridges leading to the outer boroughs. He showed her all the places they had been so far and even showed her some places he used to go as a kid, providing a colorful story from the memories he held onto. She looked very carefully and through the buildings, she was able to see some of the lights from Times Square.

The two of them walked all around the deck, recounting famous moments that had taken place where they were standing in the various movies that had immortalized the building in movies. Schmidt had even gone as far as standing up on a bench and reenacting the legendary scene from King Kong swatting down planes. Cece laughed along with others who were passing by and pulled out her phone to get another funny video.

Seeing her camera, Schmidt jumped down and joined her back on the ground. "Shall we?" he said motioning to her to get a picture of the two of them with the city in the background. They got in their usual pose side by side, heads tilted resting on each other's and snapped the photo. Cece pulled the captured picture back up to see how well the background came out, but looking at it, the only thing her eyes could see was the smile on Schmidt's face.

They walked around the entire deck on last time to get pictures of them with all of the views behind them. This time, Cece noticed the numerous people surrounding them, taking in the sights as well. Maybe it was all in her head, but all around her, all she saw were couples, people in love who had each other during the holidays. People were holding hands, hugging each other, kissing one another and staring longingly into their lover's eyes. Seeing all of them sharing in their affection was causing Cece to be jealous, which in turn made her feel ridiculous felling that way towards complete strangers. She told herself to let it go.

* * *

Ferry to Statue of Liberty

Sticking with their plans, the next stop was the Statue of Liberty. They took a cab to Battery Park & boarded a Ferry to take them to the Island that held the Monument. During any other season, standing out on the top deck of the boat being sprayed by the sea breeze would have been appealing, but in December, it was completely ill-advised. Schmidt and Cece had managed to find two available seats inside. The waters in the Hudson were choppy given the winter tide, so the ferry ride would take a bit longer than usual, so in an effort to pass the time, Cece suggested that they take a look at all the pictures they had taken so far.

Starting at the very beginning, they scrolled through all the photos from Central Park, reliving their fun outing. Swiping through each one, Cece stopped at a picture that Schmidt took, catching her off guard.

"Oh God...Look at my hair. I'm deleting this one."

Schmidt liked that one, though. He took it while she was laughing at the penguins without a care in the world. She looked so beautiful and lighthearted, it was one of his favorite pictures of her. "I don't think so." He reached over to grab the phone out of her hand before she could delete it. Cece pulled away, keeping it out of his grasp. As he stretched his arm over, his sleeve rolled up, exposing his wrist, and the shiny object that occupied it.

"Hey, you're still wearing that bracelet I got you." She tried to sound surprised, but she had seen him wear it many times before.

Schmidt brought his arm back in front of himself and toyed with the bracelet, thinking back to the Christmas that Cece had given it to him. Things between them back then were kind of rocky, and his attitude sure didn't help matters. He was happy that everything had worked out now. Having her in his life was more than he could ever have hoped for. "Yep. I never take it off."

"Really?" This time, the shock in her tone was genuine. She had seen him wear it on occasion, but to hear him say that he never took it off, was unexpected.

"Of course not. It was a gift from you." Cece smiled to herself. It was just like him to say something like that. Schmidt was always honest and up front with her about his feelings which made her wonder why she couldn't be as open with him. Maybe if she had, things would be different, and she wouldn't be sitting next to him right now secretly having feelings for him and not knowing how to tell him.

...At Statue of Liberty

Once the boat docked, and the passengers were given the all clear to disembark, the sun had decided to make and appearance for the second time that day. The rain and snow clouds shifted north bringing about a bit of warmth.

Cece walked the grounds in front of the monument staring up at the statue. This was the closest she had ever been. Schmidt walked up behind her and upon feeling his presence, she smiled, wishing like hell he would wrap his arms around her and grip her tight, but no such luck.

"I got a surprise for you." He said, causing her to turn back to face him. He pulled out two tickets with their names on them with two words written in large bold letters…'All Access'. Cece looked at him coyly.

"You got us tickets for this too?" She said not even knowing why she had to ask. It didn't even shock her that he bought them.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to make sure you get to see everything."

She definitely got to see everything. The tickets that he had bought for the two of them allowed them to go all the way up to the crown. The only downside was the fact that there were no elevators, so they had to climb nearly 300 feet to the top. For most of the climb, they tried to make it interesting, racing one another or making up games to play to take their minds off of how tiring it was. Cece had started to regret wearing heels at all. Her feet became so sore, she thought they may fall off. Schmidt being his usual chivalrous self, let her climb onto his back and piggy-back some of the way.

Once they reached the crown level, all their aches and pains disappeared and were forgotten. Looking out the window, they saw another spectacular view that had them awestruck. The New York skyline was absolutely marvelous. Out on the water, they could see the next ferry filled with more visitors to the statue make its way to the island. The way the sun struck the buildings and its light glimmered off of them was a beautiful sight to see.

Cece was so astounded at everything she was looking at, she hadn't realized that she wasn't even scared at how high up they were. They took their time to appreciate the view, listen to the history and take all the pictures they could manage before finally deciding to make the trek back down. The trip back to the ground level was much easier but still tiresome. Before they boarded the ferry, Schmidt dragged Cece to the gift shop asking her to help buy little souvenir trinkets for the group back home. She helped him pick out novelty lighters and key chains, secretly filming him as he roamed through the aisles picking up everything like a toddler in a toy store.

That childlike demeanor only intensified when he saw the foam crowns. He put one on his head and smiled, deciding right then and there to buy himself one. When Cece turned her back to him, he grabbed another crown and placed it on her head as well. At first, she just stared at him deadpanned, but when he aimed the camera at them ready to take a selfie, she saw herself on the screen and doubled-over with laughter.

The ferry back to Manhattan was less congested than the initial one they had taken. A lot of the passengers from behind decided to stay a little while longer and take some of the guided tours. Completely exhausted, Cece sat quietly with her legs crossed leaned all the way back. Neither of them said a word since the boat began to move.

Schmidt was scrolling through his phone, reading the several text messages he received from both his mother and cousin, wondering where he kept disappearing to all day. He shook his head as he imagined his mother's voice in that worrisome yet nagging tone she perfected in his youth.

Cece stared off into space. Despite the conversation she had with Schmidt earlier, there was a big part of her that still wondered if she should tell him how she felt. That would mean that she would have to figure out exactly what it was she was feeling towards him. Did she have a crush on him or was she in love with him? She knew she loved him, that part was definite, but there was a distinct difference between loving somebody and being in love with them. She had been in love with him at one point, but what she was unsure of was whether or not she was now.

All that contemplating gave her anxiety. Her thoughts were swirling throughout her head a mile a minute causing her to absentmindedly bite the corner of her lower lip and her leg to bounce uncontrollably. All that bouncing grabbed Schmidt's attention. He looked up from his phone and over at her, immediately aware that something was up.

"Hey. You alright?" he asked her concerned. You seem kind of apprehensive."

Cece snapped out of her thoughts. "Yeah I'm fine." She said trying to shake it off, but Schmidt gave her a look that he knew better than that. "I guess I'm just a little sad that tomorrow is our last day of actual fun touring around the city. After my mother hand delivers her Christmas card to Matt Lauer at the festival tomorrow night, we're heading to her sister's in Jersey City to spend the rest of the holiday."

"Well…that's why we're going out with a bang. Tomorrow. Coney Island. All day."

Cece smiled. "That sounds like the perfect way to end it." They both let out a small chuckle. "Seriously, though, I've been having so much fun with you these last few days. More fun than I've had in a really long time, and I just don't want to go back to the boringness back home. I'm either working at the bar, going to class or at home studying & it's so dull."

"Well then, how about this? How about you and I make a pact to do something fun and adventurous every now and then? Once a month we'll find something new and interesting, and we'll just do it. No excuses."

Cece was both shocked and excited. "That sounds amazing, but you really don't have to. I know work keeps you super busy."

"Exactly. This trip has me dreading going home too. All I do is work. I never make time for anything else and I want to change that. And also…I've been having a really great time with you too, and I don't want that to end just because our trip is over."

Cece searched his eyes trying to see if everything he had said was true and he wasn't holding anything back. Of course he wasn't he never kept anything from her. "Okay." She said softly.

Schmidt held his hand out offering it to her to shake. "Do we have a deal?"

She smiled at him before giving her his hand in return. "Deal." And it was made. They each had every intention of keeping the promise they had just made to each other. Each of them had different reasons for agreeing, but one thought they had in common was the idea of keeping their genuine friendship.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 will be up as soon as I can. Is anybody else as excited as I am that in less than two weeks, New Girl comes back? I'm way too excited. Hope it'll help we write faster. Thank you guys for reading and I hope you guys are enjoying it. Please review and let me know!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the lateness, but the anticipation for the new season premiere gave me severe writers block. But here is chapter five. Hope you guys like.**

* * *

 **Ch. 5 – Memories That We'll Have After**

It was their last day together in the city. The last day they had to spend with just the two of them, and they wanted to treasure every second of it. It had to be incredible. Unbeknownst to the other, each of them had their own reasons for wanting to make this day memorable. Knowing how down Cece was about the fun half of this trip coming to a close, Schmidt's objective was to get her to smile and laugh as much as possible. He wanted this to be a memory the two could recall on as their friendship grew and remember it as a pivotal experience they shared. Cece's intention was just as simple but not one she would readily admit to. After today, she would have to spend the next six days without Schmidt, spending the holidays with her large and intrusive family for the holiday. She loved her family as much as anyone, but she was not sure she could survive spending that long of time away from him. These last few days, as they were constantly together, she had somehow developed a craving for his presence that was stronger than anything she had ever desired. They could sit together in complete silence for several hours and the second he was gone, she would instantly start to miss him. She thought this is what having an addiction must feel like.

Cece had never taken the subway before. It wasn't as bad as she had been expecting it to be. Schmidt, though, was shocked that she had even suggested it as the means of transportation for their day. Last night in her hotel room, while she was too wired to sleep, she watched a documentary about tourists visiting the city and said she wanted the complete New York experience. It mentioned every place they visited so far and even pointed out how despite popular movie lore, the subway is very safe and it was the perfect place to encounter random street performers, and observe real New Yorkers in their element.

It was nearing 10 am the day before Christmas Eve, and the entire subway was packed beyond belief. Undoubtedly of people rushing around trying to purchase last minute gifts and finishing up whatever work they may have to do before their holiday break. Whatever the reason, they all seemed to have the same idea of avoiding the streets for fear of irritating traffic and the less than typical cold weather.

Cece wasn't one who enjoyed large crowds, but had no problem braving it for the day since it meant getting the full feel of the city. She looked all around the packed car, amazed at the collection of people surrounding her. Back and forth she swayed as the vehicle rolled along the tracks. Every once in a while, they would hit a bump causing her to lose her footing, and she would either stumble into Schmidt, or one of the random strangers standing directly beside her. At first, she didn't think standing the whole way wouldn't be that big of a deal, but after the fourth round of 'sorry' she wished a seat would open up.

Schmidt offered up a solution to her conundrum. "Here." He said softly. With his right arm, he took hold of her, wrapping it around her waist and pulling her close. Using his other arm, he reached up and grabbed one of the railings to support their stance. Cece realized what he was trying to accomplish, and surrendered her body onto his, feeling a rush of warmth the second they touched. For lack of a better place to put them, her hands were pressed between their bodies, lying flat on his chest. Once again, the subway car hit a bump, and instead of stumbling into random people, she was held steady, swaying only slightly.

After his idea proved to be beneficial, it started to dawn on each of them just how awkward of a position they were in. To everyone around them, they were nothing more than a young couple holding each other sweetly, but if they knew the details of their history, they would agree that the situation had to be uncomfortable. Their faces were so close that they could feel each other's breath. Cece kept her head down to avoid making eye contact with him. She inhaled deeply trying to maintain control of her composure, but once she did, she wished she hadn't. Catching a full whiff of his cologne, her eyes closed as every memory she ever shared with him flashed through her head. It was the exact same cologne he had always worn. It was his signature scent that served as a trigger for her. Even through the gloves and his coat, Cece's hands could feel every inch of his skin, every contour of his muscles & the beating of his heart. She bet that hers was beating just as fast.

Somehow, the memory of his scent had begun to fade from her mind, so like an addict she took another sniff to get it back. This time, the only memory that came to her was one in particular. It was the night she 'borrowed' one of his shirts after their secret midnight trysts, during which Schmidt had accidentally ripped the seam of her dress. At the time, Cece was so overcome with lust that she couldn't be mad. In fact, his forcefulness turned her on all the more. When their fun was over, she snuck out of the loft as quietly as possible wearing one of his t-shirts that reeked of his cologne. When she got home, she tossed it into one of her dresser drawers making a mental note to give it back later. Over time, she had of course forgotten about it only to come across it weeks after he ended their relationship. Whenever she found herself thinking about him, she would pull it out and smell it, remembering everything they had shared. To this day, she still had that shirt tucked away in her dresser, but the smell had since faded.

* * *

They had finally reached their stop at the Stillwell avenue station and exited the car to the platform, immediately feeling the cold sea air on their cheeks. Cece looked out over the railing and saw the amusement park set against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean. She couldn't wait to get down there. Schmidt led her downstairs and across the street to the entrance.

Arm in arm, the two walked around taking in liveliness of their surroundings. Cece didn't know what she wanted to do first. There were so many rides and games it made her overwhelmed with excitement. Walking past the shooting gallery, the attendant took notice of them and called to their attention.

"Hey there pretty lady. You look like a femme fatale. Why don't you show your man here what you can do?" He held out one of the rifles trying to entice her. Cece looked over to Schmidt who returned her gaze with a shrug.

"Alright." She said walking up to the booth and grabbing the rifle.

"Excellent!" he yelled as she took it. He flipped the switch bringing the targets to life. The machines kept them in constant motion, pushing them back and forth & spinning around on a giant turntable. "You get ten shots. Let's see what ya' got."

Cece brought the rifle up to her shoulder letting it rest tilting her head to use the sights to aim. Schmidt looked at her and thought how sexy she looked with a gun. One by one, she fired at the moving targets. She managed to take down a few, but for the most part she had missed.

"You knocked down four." The operator told her. "That's not bad." He glanced to Schmidt's direction. "Think you can show her how it's done?" Cece turned to look at him as well & a fun idea struck into her head.

"Oh there's no way he can do any better than that." She said goadingly hoping he'd play right into her plan. After hearing her say that he stared daggers at her, playfully. He knew she was challenging him and decided to try to prove her wrong.

Just as Cece had hoped, he fell for it. She handed him the rifle and held her place right next to him. "You ready?" the guy behind the counter asked him getting ready to flip the switch and start the game.

Keeping his eyes locked at the targets in front of him, trying to maintain his focus, Schmidt didn't even look up. "Bring it." He said. The operator turned the game on and once again, the targets danced and spun. Schmidt was concentration hard and fired one shot after the other. Cece, standing directly next to him, leaned into his ear and whispered, "Don't miss." He tried to ignore her, knowing this was nothing more than an intimidation tactic. Since whispering to him didn't work, Cece chose to step it up a notch. She ran her fingers up and down his back, wanting him to jump. However, he was able to fight it.

When his tenth shot rang out, the targets ceased their motion. "Nice!" said the operator, "You hit 7!" Schmidt turned to Cece with a devilish grin. She looked at him and rolled her eyes. Turning back to the operator.

"I'm going again." She said sharply.

"Looks like we got a little standoff here!"

Schmidt handed Cece the gun again with the smile still plastered on his face. Gripping tightly, she brought the rifle back up to her shoulder and set the targets up in the sights. The game started to move again and she was determined. Schmidt took a page right out of her playbook. Every time it looked like she was about to pull the trigger, he would playfully nudge the back of her leg, but not even that worked.

"Nine! She hit nine out of ten!" he yelled to no one in particular. Cece set the rifle down on the counter and threw her arms up in the air like she just won the World Series. Schmidt couldn't believe it. He just stood there flabbergasted with his eyes locked on the wall of targets, and she just had to laugh at that.

"Who are you? Angelina Jolie from Mr. & Mrs. Smith?" He asked confused.

Continuing their stroll through the carnival games and rides, they were still laughing and arguing about their friendly competition. That's when two kids no older than eight ran quickly past them screaming about wanting to ride on the bumper cars. Schmidt and Cece watched after them as they made a beeline to their destination.

"Bumper cars sound fun." Cece said turning to Schmidt. He smiled back at her and held his arm out motioning towards the ride.

"Lead the way." Cece returned his grin loving how cute he could be.

The line wait wasn't that long and it also proved to be entertaining. They watched each of the groups before them take their sets driving around and ramming into each other, laughing as they did so. Every once in a while, someone would get hit unexpectedly and their car would spin out earning an uproar from those watching in line.

When the group before them were done, the attendant opened the gate and ushered Schmidt & Cece's group through to claim their vehicles. They found two cars next to each other and hopped in before anyone else beat them to the punch. Schmidt made sure Cece was securely strapped in before putting on his own seatbelt. Once every one of the cars had been claimed, the attendant spoke over the P.A. system quickly running through the rules of safety. He reset the 10 minute timer and wished them a good time, then let them begin.

It was pure chaos. All around them, people of all ages were crashing into each other and catching others off guard. Cece drove her car through all the others trying to find Schmidt and hit him with a sneak attack. Every time she got the best of him, he would scream "Dammit!" in frustration. He tried to turn and chase after her, but there was something wrong with the vehicle he chose. The gas and brake pedals kept getting stuck and the steering wheel was impossible to control. He was growing increasingly irritated allowing Cece more than enough opportunities to mess with him.

After a few minutes, he started to get the hang of working with the car and set out to find Cece and repay her for her treachery. He found her across the way waiting for a small group of teens to move out of her way. That's when she saw him, with a look of determination and an evil smirk, coming straight for him. She tried to push past the teens, but they had her trapped. She smiled knowing how proud Schmidt must have been feeling at that precise moment. He was bearing down on her. She braced herself for the impact.

Schmidt was only a few feet away, ready to taste sweet victory when suddenly, he gets knocked off his course by one of the young kids that had ran past them earlier. It was so unexpected and the force sent Schmidt spinning out and crashed into the wall. Cece let out a bellowing laugh so big it brought tears to her eyes. The teens had since dispersed, freeing her from her confinement, so she made her way over to where Schmidt had landed.

"You okay?" she asked trying hard to sound genuine, but failing to do so as she was still chuckling. Schmidt's foot kept hitting the gas pedal, but he remained stationary. His bumper car was completely totaled and he didn't even get to retaliate against Cece.

He was so angry at that kid for thwarting his attempt and wrecking his car, that he slammed both of his fists on the steering wheel several times. "Oh no, oh no, oh no!" he screamed. He looked up at Cece shaking his head while she laughed on. "Youths!" he said angrily and folded his arms.

When their time was up, they made their way to the exit gate. Schmidt felt beyond defeated and Cece taunting him was not helping. He tried to suppress his smile and pretend to still be angry, but watching her do her little victory dance and teasing him was adorable.

As they were leaving, they heard the announcer over the loud speaker. "Hey folks. Just a friendly reminder that our next Sea Lion show will be starting in 30 minutes. Come check it out!"

Schmidt and Cece looked at each other and communicated telepathically. They simultaneously nodded their heads and made their way towards the Aquarium.

With a half hour to kill before the show got started, they decided to check out the other animals. Cece nearly lost it when she saw the penguins. These ones weren't as goofy as the ones at Central Park had been but she still thought they were funny. A few of them jumped into the water and swam around. Cece was mesmerized by how beautiful they look gliding through the water like they were flying, completely elegant and graceful.

They moved on to the Conservation Hall and walked through the tunnel that ran directly through the enormous tank which housed the largest collection of various fish they had ever seen. It was truly magnificent. Looking in all directions they spotted so many fish they didn't even know existed. Swimming near one of the coral reefs, Schmidt saw a Lionfish. He smiled to himself remembering the last time he had encountered one during his brief bout with depression over losing the woman who now stood five feet away from him. Shaking himself out of his thought and putting it past him, he rejoined Cece down the hall and they headed for the Aquatheater to finds seats to enjoy the show.

The theater was packed with people, but fortunately enough, Schmidt and Cece had managed to find great seats with a perfect view of the show. The second they sat down, Cece pulled out her phone and started taking pictures of the two of them. When the show finally got underway, she redirected her camera towards the Sea Lions and their trainers.

Watching the show transpire was amazing and fun. It was incredible what they could get the animals to do. Cece got a lot of cute and funny videos and couldn't wait to show Jess when they got back home. She always had fun at these kinds of things.

After the Sea Lions performed their last few tricks, their trainers got them to wave goodbye to the crowd wishing them a Merry Christmas'.

Together they spent the next few hours playing every game they could, trying all the famous carnival foods and riding every ride that interested them. They were really going all out. Cece wanted to get a picture of the two of them at the very top of the Ferris wheel and Schmidt was more than happy to oblige.

They waited in line for roughly ten minutes before they were ushered into a seat. One after the other, their capsule rose higher and higher while the rest of them got filled. They got to the very top and Cece snapped a really great picture with her and Schmidt, faces side by side, smiling with the view of the rest of Coney Island behind them. As she turned to put her phone back into her pocket, she looked down and suddenly realized just how high up they actually were.

Cece slammed herself back facing forward in her seat and closed her eyes. "Hey, Cece…You okay?" Schmidt asked concerned. She looked like she saw a ghost.

"Yeah. I just didn't know that this was as high up as we were going to be. From down there it doesn't seem that high."

Schmidt grabbed her hand and turned to face her. "Just breathe okay. Everything is going to fine I promise." She knew he was right, but her body wouldn't let itself rid her of the fear. Cece nodded her head feverishly to let him know she understood but also to convince herself he was right.

The Ferris wheel started moving again and Cece's stomach got that same sick feeling that she had on the plane. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" she said panicked. Schmidt let go of her hands and grabbed hold of her face, turning towards him quickly but gently.

"Cece, hey…Look at me." She reluctantly opened her eyes and stared straight into his. "That's it, just keep your eyes on me. Only on me. Everything is fine." Cece did exactly as she was told and kept her eyes focused on his and nothing else. And just like that, she got lost in them as she always had. The world continued on all around them, she was oblivious to it all. The Ferris wheel sped up and their capsule plunged down, but she had no idea.

Slowly, the ride had come to a complete stop and the capsule they were on was pulled into the platform. "See that?" Schmidt spoke bringing her out of her momentary hypnotism. "It's over."

He was speaking to her, but she couldn't hear his words. All she could hear was the pounding of her heart as it sped up and fluttered. That warm sensation she got every time she was with him spread throughout her body consumed her. She was hoping like hell that he would kiss her, but after what almost happened the other night, she knew that was just wishful thinking on her part.

Schmidt got out first and turned back to help her up. They went down the stairs from the platform and were back on land. For that Cece was grateful. "Hey," she called to Schmidt. "Thank you. For what you did back there…calming me down. It really helped."

He smiled. "Anytime." He said. "Do you want take a ride on the Carousel before we leave?"

Cece nodded her head. "Yeah." They started walking towards the Merry-Go-Round with a little more eagerness in their stride. "I think carousel are becoming our thing."

* * *

During their venture back to Manhattan, they Subway was just about as packed as it was earlier in the day, and once again, Schmidt and Cece were left standing.

"So," Schmidt began. "Our tour of all things New York is officially over. Did you have a good time?"

"I absolutely did. I'm glad I got to do this with you."

"I'm glad too. It was nice hanging out with you like this."

"You know…nobody has ever done anything like this for me. I am never going to forget this trip."

"I guess we'll always have New York." At that the two of them shared in a lighthearted chuckle. It was their last day together and they had succeeded in treasuring every moment and making it unforgettable. Each of them were contented with that for now.

The next few minutes were spent in a comfortable silence only to be interrupted by the craziest of all things.

"Hey Schmidt." Cece asked in a weird tone.

"Yeah?"

"Please tell me that's your hand on my ass."

Schmidt gave her a puzzled look then pulled both his hands out of his pockets and showed them to her, shaking his head "No."

Both feeling creeped out, they look around behind her and find that the hand on her ass belonged to a homeless man. One that looks eerily similar to Outside Dave from back home. He looked back and forth between Cece and Schmidt and pulled his hand back. "Sorry…I thought that was my ass." And with that, he shuffled through the crowded subway car in the opposite direction leaving the two of them speechless and disgusted.

* * *

 **49th Street Subway Station**

Walking up the stairs from the station back out onto the street, it was clear that the city had transformed during their absence. Roads were gated off by cops & officials in neon jackets, the streets were decorated and the sidewalks were packed beyond belief. The Holiday Festival was only two hours away from beginning, and Cece's parents were expecting her by then.

"So I got a text from my mom. She and my Step-dad want me to meet them in Planet Hollywood." Cece had to practically scream it into his ear. With everyone in New York packed together like sardines, it was hard to hear yourself think.

Schmidt looked around the area where they were standing to get his bearings. "Okay, I know just where that is." He grabs ahold of Cece's hand and gripped it tightly. "Hold on to me." He said to her. She nodded to let him know she understood and brace herself for what she could only describe as hell.

Growing up near the city, Schmidt knew just how crazy things could get in these situations. He also knew that it was every man for himself, so if he wanted to survive, he had to be insistent and assertive. He wormed his way through the crowd creating a path for Cece to follow. The closer they got to the main area of the festivities, the more difficult the task proved to be.

Suddenly, there was a shift and the herd of people all moved at once. In the erupting chaos, Cece and Schmidt's hands were forcefully pulled apart. Cece became panicked, losing visual of him. Schmidt instinctively reverted into his protective mode, pushing through the opposite direction of the general flow to find her.

"Schmidt!" he heard her scream, loud enough to know that she was close.

"Cece!" He drove through a few more people until he saw that beautiful face riddled with fear. Heading straight for her, he reached out and grabbed her hand with his.

"I thought I lost you." He let the relief escape into his tone.

"Yeah. Me too. God this is crazy."

"Yeah it is. We still got about three blocks." Schmidt looked up the block trying to gauge how long it would take. Normally, they would only need five minutes to walk three blocks, but with all these people around, it might as well have been a hundred miles. Up the street at the next intersection and comes up with a plan. "Here…I have an idea." He said getting her full attention. He turned around and crouched forward to let her climb onto him and piggy-back the rest of the way. "Hop on."

"You sure?" She asked him. He turned to look at her.

"Absolutely. I'm not losing you again."

"Okay." Cece hopped onto his back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders tightly. He resumed his bodyguard mentality that proved useful back at JFK.

As Cece held on and enjoyed the ride, she again took a moment to breathe him in and remember the scent of his cologne. She knew there was a strong chance at it rubbing off onto her clothes and didn't mind one bit. She also found herself noticing something else. Through his coat, she could feel the muscles she had felt on him earlier on the subway. These were different, though. What she felt earlier were the muscles on his chest that she knew and loved…and even missed. Now, with her body pressed to his back, he seemed bigger. It was clear that he had increased his workout regimen exponentially so.

Schmidt reach the intersection he was aiming for and turned right. Before Cece could ask where he was going, he offered her reassurance. "I know a way around where it won't be so congested." He told her.

"I trust you."

Schmidt cut through an alleyway and found that about fifty more people had the same idea he did. But fifty versus the hundreds of thousands he had just come from was definitely the lesser of two evils. They were right around the corner and Schmidt hadn't even broken a sweat yet. Cece was more than impressed. Minutes later, they were two stores down from the restaurant and could see the sign up ahead.

"They're just right over there." Cece told him. Schmidt stopped and let her off. For a few seconds, they just stood there. The first awkward silence they'd had all week. "So this is it then?" she asked.

Schmidt nodded uncomfortably. "I guess so. Until after the holidays."

"We'll meet up at JFK. On the 30th?" She already knew that was true. She just didn't want to say goodbye to him just yet. Even if it was only going to be a few days.

"Right."

"Hey. I um…I wanted to thank you. This has been the most amazing trip I have ever taken and spending time with you was incredible. There's nobody I would have rather done that with. You really are one of my best friends Schmidt."

"Yeah. I had fun too. And you are definitely one of my best friends as well…just don't tell Nick."

"Got it. Don't tell Jess either."

That was all they had left to say. There was nothing else. So, with great reluctance to part ways, they each leaned in for a hug that was unlike any other hug they had shared in the recent years. Using both arms, they embraced bringing just a touch of strength into it. It was the kind of hug that made Cece feel safe and warm. Something she had never felt in any of her other past relationships. It was his way of letting her know that he cared about her more than anything. It had been a while since they hugged at all, making this one all the more special. Before letting go completely, Cece gave him a soft and sweet kiss on the cheek, getting a smile in return.

"Merry Christmas Schmidt."

"Merry Christmas Cecilia."

He watched her turn around and head towards the restaurant, savoring the sight as long as he could before turning around himself and walking back around the corner to catch a cab back to Queens.

* * *

 **I'll try to have the last two chapters up ASAP. Hope you guys liked this & I hope you guys were as excited about the new season as I was. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here is chapter six. Thank you guys so much for your patience. Sorry if this one is kind of short or poorly edited, I was kind of rushing. If there are any mistakes, let me know and I will fix them. But enjoy!**

* * *

 **Ch. 6 – With Everybody Here, Friends So Dear**

 **JFK – December 30th**

Schmidt had no idea how he had survived the last six days surrounded by his mother, aunt, cousin & various other relatives. Each day seemed to be longer than the last. He couldn't wait to get back home.

Sitting all alone at the near empty waiting area by the gate his flight boarded at, Schmidt found himself feeling anxious. He couldn't wait to see her again and ask her all about how she spent her holiday. He had once said that he couldn't go three days without Cece. After six days, he was going through some serious withdrawals.

He pulled out his phone and swiped through the copies of the pictures Cece had taken of them during their tour around the city. The day after they said their goodbye's she sent him an email with a folder attached that held duplicates of every single one they'd captured, recalling the memory it was associated with.

Words couldn't describe how gorgeous he thought her smile was. Every time he came across a photo of her beaming her full teeth-showing grin, he had no control to stop himself from matching it. Scrolling through, one by one, Schmidt found a picture that rendered every muscle in his body completely motionless. It was one of the photos he had taken of the both of them in Times Square. Schmidt had held the camera at an upward angle, making sure to get the lit up billboard in the background. They were smiling for the camera, but Schmidt noticed he was the only one actually looking into the lens. Whereas Cece's eyes were locked onto him. It reminded him of the photo they had taken on the cruise ship in Mexico after they were rescued from being trapped in their room for three days. He didn't notice her gaze until Winston had pointed it out in front of everyone. When he took a closer look, he too saw it and smiled to himself, but then he denied it to avoid embarrassing Cece.

In this picture, she was giving him that very same smile. He didn't know what to think of it. Naturally, the first thing he felt was genuine jubilance. The first time, he convinced himself that her look was nothing more than a side effect from starvation and cabin fever, but there was no way this time was a coincidence. There had to be some kind of meaning to this. Thousands of thoughts swirled through his mind all at once. Does he ask her what it means? What if it's just a friendly, appreciative glance? What if he asks her about it and she denies it? Would she break off their friendship?

Just thinking of that hypothetical situation, Schmidt's stomach went from butterflies happily fluttering to twisting and turning into the most intricate of knots. He couldn't lose Cece as a friend. Especially not after the amazing progress they had made in only a matter of two weeks. _It doesn't mean anything Schmidt_ , he thought to himself, _she has made it perfectly clear several times that she only wants to be friends & you've accepted that. You can't ruin it now_.

He admired the picture for a few moments longer then continued on swiping through the rest. Giving his eyes a break from the screen, he looked up just as a small group of people rode up on the escalator. He didn't want to strain himself searching their faces in the off chance Cece was among them, because if she was, he knew he would look desperate as hell. Casually, he glanced over and scanned the crowd. Once he saw her, he quickly directed his gaze back down at his phone. Knowing she was there caused his heart to start beating faster and harder than it ever had before. Struggling to regain his self-control, he was forced to fight himself, trying to keep his smile from pressing through.

Schmidt's ears were honed in on her footsteps. That sharp click-clacking of her heels somehow brought him so much comfort. Without seeing her, he was still entirely aware of every move she made. She was getting closer and it was getting more and more difficult to pretend he hadn't noticed. He brought the phone closer to his face to make it seem as though he was fixated on anything else.

Cece made a beeline straight for him, practically powerwalking faster than she ever had before. It had been the longest six days of her life, but she endured it all and was ready to claim her prize of his company. "Hey." She said to him not bothering to hide the excitement in her voice.

Schmidt looked up and succeeded at acting as if he hadn't noticed her presence. "Hey." Before he could even attempt to stand to greet her, she had already taken the seat next to him, leaning over the armrest to hug him tight with enthusiasm.

"How long have you been here?"

"A little over an hour."

"Really? What, were you trying to beat the New Year's rush or something?"

"No. I was trying to keep my sanity. I had to get out of Queens as soon as possible. Any second longer & I would have committed myself into the psych ward." His tone was lighthearted, but he was dead serious, his family could push his buttons.

"Okay, I need to meet your mother one day. I think it might shed some light on _so_ many things."

"Trust me…that is never going to happen."

Cece looked over at him playfully. "Oh come on. What's the worst that could happen? What, are you afraid she'll embarrass you with humiliating stories from your childhood?" She was genuinely surprised she had never met his mother after all these years.

Schmidt shook his head. "No….well maybe, but that's not it."

"So what then?" She asked sincerely.

"Truthfully…She's very critical and judgmental and overbearing. She always has an opinion on every aspect of my life that she doesn't approve of, which is pretty much everything."

"Well she can't be any worse than my mom."

"How was your family Christmas celebration by the way?"

Cece rolled her eyes at the mention of her family. "Probably about as aggravating as yours seemed to be."

"Well, hey, at least it's over. And we're still standing."

"Amen!" she said as they both laughed.

Their shared chuckle died down allowing them to hear an announcement over the intercom of the airport. "Flight 268 from London has just arrived and will be disembarking at Gate J14!"

"Isn't that Jess' flight?" Schmidt asked hearing something familiar about that flight number.

"I think it is." Cece looked down at her watch. "We don't board for another half hour, you want to go meet her?"

Schmidt nodded and stood up to grab both his and Cece's bags. "Yeah, let's do it."

* * *

Schmidt and Cece stood at the gate watching as several people walked out of the tunnel and reunited with their friends and loved ones. Finally, after what seemed like a hundred people left the plane, Cece spotted Jess through the crowd.

"Jess!" She screamed raising her hand and waving it for Jess to see over everyone. "Over here!"

Jess followed the sound of her best friend's voice and weaved through the mass of people until she reached them. "Hey guys! How the hell are you?" She gave the both of them a hug, nearly choking each of them.

"How was London?" Schmidt asked once she let go.

Jess' smile only grew as she threw on a fake English accent. "Oh I had a merry ol' time in London! Ryan's family was so wonderful." Schmidt and Cece share a look at how horribly she was butchering the manner in which the British speak. "We went to Buckingham Palace and saw Big Ben...It was truly a magical experience."

"Is this fake British accent an all-day thing? Or…." Schmidt didn't care if he sounded rude.

Cece agreed with him, though. "Yeah that's gotta stop."

"You guys are not fun at all." Together, the three of them waked back to their gate to wait for the flight back to LAX to board. As they sat down in the passenger waiting area, Jess was so happy to see them for the first time in nearly two weeks and wanted to know everything about their holiday vacation.

"So, Cece…how was New York? You have fun?"

Cece's smile grew wider than she had ever seen it. "So much fun! I learned to ice skate, we went to Coney Island, Central Park, and the Statue of Liberty…"

"Really?" Jess asked shocked. "I thought your mom hated going to all those crowded places."

"Oh I didn't go with my mom…Schmidt and I did all that stuff."

"Wait…what?" Jess was taken aback. She knew that they would both be in New York, but she assumed that they would spend their time there separately.

"Yeah." Cece continued, not even noticing her friend's confusion. She was too busy reliving all the glorious moments she had shared with her ex. "Well, we were having lunch one day & I told him how I never really experienced New York, so he took me on a tour and we did all kinds of fun stuff."

"Wow. It's cool that guys spent a lot of time together."

As they told Jess all about their time together touring around the great city of New York, she just watched on in amazement at the way they interacted with one another. It was almost as if she wasn't there. Schmidt and Cece replayed everything they did, sharing little laughs while doing so. Jess didn't know what to make of it. She knew their history better than anyone and had hoped they would find a way to move past it and be friends, but what she was watching unfold in front of her looked like they were getting ready to repeat the past.

When the conversation slowly died down, Jess stood up rather abruptly. "Hey, I'm gonna go to the gift shop and get one of those neck pillows for the flight & maybe some magazines to read. Cece will you come with me?"

"Yeah." Cece responded then turned to Schmidt. "You okay to watch the bags for a while? Do you mind?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You guys go ahead."

Cece stood up and turned to him one more time "Okay…Do you want me to grab you anything?" They shared a sweet and somewhat flirtatious smile that was not lost on Jess.

"No, I'm good." Schmidt said appreciatively. Jess felt like they were in high school watching two kids with a crush on each other. At that, she got a little worried.

At the gift shop, Jess was looking through a stand of assorted neck pillows varying in color, comfortability and other attributes, but the entire time, she was contemplating how to approach her best friend with a sensitive subject. She wanted to be subtle, but still gauge where her head was at.

"So…You and Schmidt seem to be getting along a lot better than you used to. Sounds like New York was really fun."

Cece was perusing through a spinning rack of keychains, but once she heard Jess mention Schmidt and New York, her voice took on a dreamy and loving tone. "It really was." She said without realizing what she sounded like.

"It's really nice to see the two of you actually being friends."

"Yeah. We talked about giving this friendship a real shot. I've missed hanging out with him. We've always had fun together."

"That's good." Jess looked over at Cece, who was still smiling as she thought about Schmidt. She figured there was no indirect way to ask the next question, so she just went for it. "So if this whole friendship things works out, do you think you guys will give the whole dating thing another shot?"

Cece's head whipped around so fast, she almost got whiplash. "What?" she asked trying her best to contain herself. "Wh-why would you ask that?"

"Just 'cause…I've seen the way you two are around each other now compared to how you used to be, and it seems like there's something that might be starting up again."

"The only thing that's starting up is a new kind of friendship. I care about Schmidt, but we are just friends now."

Jess knew that wasn't the whole story, but chose to let it go for the time being. She had known Cece long enough to know that if she wasn't ready to admit to anything, it was mainly because she wouldn't admit it to herself. "Okay. If you say so. But, if you do start to feel that way about him again, just know that you can always talk to me about it. I've always thought you guys were good together." Jess grabbed one of the neck pillows off of the shelf and headed to the checkout counter to pay for it, leaving Cece there to think about what she had said.

With a million things running through her mind at once, she looked over and saw a postcard with a picture of a couple skating at the Rockefeller Center hand-in-hand. Cece smiled at the memory, also remembering what else had happened on that ice rink. She knew her feelings for Schmidt had come back, but she had decided that she would let it be for now and not say anything to him for a while. She had to stand by her decision.

* * *

 **On the plane**

At thirty thousand feet up in the air, Cece was struggling to get comfortable. For some reason, the short conversation she had with Jess was still weighing on her mind. It was causing her to second guess everything.

Sitting next to her, Schmidt was reading on of the magazines Jess had purchased from the gift shop earlier. Every once in a while, he would read something that would make him smile or nod in agreement and Cece would just watch him out of the corner of her eye, completely mesmerized. As she shifted in her seat for the millionth time, she breathed a heavy sigh of annoyance. Schmidt looked over at her and knew exactly what was troubling her. He reached underneath his seat to his carry-on bag and pulled out the pillow she had stolen for him from the first class lounge and handed it over to her.

When she saw it, she smiled at the sentiment. He was always so thoughtful. She graciously accepted the pillow threw it behind her head, suddenly finding contentment to fall asleep for a short while.

After a few hours of pleasant and uninterrupted sleep, Cece woke up just in time for Schmidt to tell her they would be landing soon. She felt the plane slowly decrease in elevation, but the knotted uneasiness she had normally felt churn in her stomach wasn't there. She closed her eyes and thought back to the ride on the Ferris wheel, and how Schmidt had calmed her down enough to completely forget where she was.

With her eyelids tightly shut, she was back on that Ferris wheel, her face in his hands, lost in his gorgeous hazel eyes. Everything else seemed nonexistent. She was brought back to the reality when she felt his hand clutch hers. She looked over at him.

"Scared?" He asked her sincerely.

"Y-Yeah." That was a lie. Her fear had completely disappeared, but that warm feeling that spread through her had been present the second their hands embraced. More than anything, Cece wasn't ready to break that connection just yet. So she decided to pretend she was scared. Just for now.

 **At LAX**

After landing, it took the three of them about an hour to fight through the baggage claim area to locate all of their luggage. Schmidt tried to carry most of it for the ladies in an effort to be chivalrous, but their bags were heavier than his.

Walking past the exit towards the cab stand in the direction of long-term parking, Cece made a joke to Schmidt about there not being any limo's to steal which caused the both of them to erupt into a fit of laughter. Jess felt out of the loop at their little inside joke. "I can't believe we have to come back here tomorrow to pick up Coach, Nick & Winston." She said somewhat irritated.

Once they located Schmidt's car in the airport's parking garage, they loaded up all their suitcases and piled in heading home. Pulling up to Cece's apartment, Schmidt and Jess both got out to help her unload her bags and say goodbye until tomorrow. Jess had pulled her aside to speak to Cece privately for a minute, leaving Schmidt the perfect opportunity to sneak his Christmas gift to Cece into one of her bags. He thought it would be quick, but as he went to close the suitcase, he struggled a bit.

Jess noticed how long he was taking and yelled at him to put a pep in his step. Finally, Schmidt was able to zip up the bag and pulled it and the rest out of the car, setting them down on the sidewalk. The two got ready to say their goodbyes to one another. As Jess looked at the two of them, she caught on to the energy they were giving off and excused herself to allow them some privacy, hoping like hell one of them would admit their feelings towards the other.

Cece was the first to speak. "Listen, I just wanted to say thank you again for everything. I had a really great time with you. I hope we can have another adventure like that again real soon."

"It was my pleasure. I'm glad you had fun. And I fully intend on keeping our promise to doing something adventurous every now and then."

"Right. I'll hold you to that." They shared a caring smile for a few seconds before Cece's impulse took over and she pulled him in for a hug. This one was similar to the one they shared in Times Square on their last night together. Neither of them wanted to let go. Cece moved her head slightly to speak into his ear. "You're the best." She said to him quietly.

Schmidt smiled at her voice in his ear and moved his head to do the same. "What are friends for?" He whispered to her. At the mention of that word, Cece's face fell. The butterflies in her stomach went from fluttering a full speed to a quick and sudden halt. Now she knew what he had gone through in the airport food court almost two weeks ago.

Schmidt pulled out of their embrace and Cece put on a fake smile to save face. "I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked her hopefully.

"Right." She tried to hide the disdain in her voice. "Yeah, tomorrow." Schmidt turned around and headed back to the car, hoping into the driver's seat and pulling away from the curb. Once again, Cece stood on the sidewalk, staring after the car that held the only guy she ever truly cared for, wishing for their current situation to be different.

 **Two hours later**

Cece toweled off her wet hair after a much needed hot shower. Traveling always left her feeling pretty icky and exhausted. She threw on her pajama pants, a soft tank top and tied her hair up into a messy bun. She figured now was a good a time as any to unpack her bags and wash all her clothes.

Turning on the T.V. for background noise, Cece tossed her suitcases onto her bed and unzipped the tab, flinging in open. The first thing her eyes saw was the perfectly wrapped gift box sitting atop all of her belongings. For a second, Cece thought she had grabbed the wrong bag, but seeing all of her clothes and personal item underneath it put that thought to rest.

She picked up the gift and savagely tore the wrapping off and threw it to the floor. What was left in her hands, was a grey Tiffany's box around the size of her phone and a card along with it.

 _Cece, we'll always have New York, and every memory we shared. -Schmidt_

Cece smiled to herself. It was no wonder her feelings for him never went away, he was so caring and thoughtful. Setting the card down carefully, she opened the box, immediately growing breathless as she saw what was inside.

Resting in it was a Sterling silver charm bracelet. Each charm on it had been sensibly picked out to reflect a memory the two had shared during their citywide excursion throughout the Big Apple. There was an ice skate, a penguin, a camera, a snowflake, a tiny Statue of Liberty, a Ferris wheel and even a carousel.

She couldn't contain her smile and truthfully, she didn't want to. This was, without a doubt, the greatest Christmas gift anyone had ever gotten for her. She wanted to hop in her car, drive over to the loft and jump into his arms, kissing him passionately. But she convinced herself not to, somehow. Instead, she put the bracelet on her wrist and lied down on her bed staring at it and smiled. She closed her eyes to replay every moment they had spent together in New York, and before she knew it, she had dozed off, dreaming about the love of her life.

* * *

 **Hope you liked this. The final chapter will be out soon. Until then please review and let me know what you think. And thank you to all my fellow Schmece fans out there!**


	7. Chapter 7

**So sorry it took so long for me to get this last chapter out. I thank all of you for your patience and support. I really hope you guys enjoy this story and be sure to keep an eye out for more because all I can write about these days is Schmece. Thank You guys...oh and PS - Let me know what you think.**

* * *

 **Ch. 7 – Lift up Your Hearts & Feel the Love – Dec. 31st**

Schmidt's eyes jolted open as he awoke quickly and immediately rolled over towards his nightstand to check his phone. Wading through the dozens of emails that were, at this moment, irrelevant, he grew discouraged at the fact that there no missed calls or text messages. He told himself the night before to not get his hopes up. If Cece liked the bracelet he got for her, she would let him know. But every second that passed that he didn't get a phone call or text message was another moment he doubted himself. _What if she didn't like it?_ He thought to himself. _Or, what if she thought it meant something?_ He had to ask himself if maybe it had meant something. It was a sweet and sentimental gift, but getting a person jewelry was always risky, and given their history, that risk was increased exponentially. Schmidt brought his wrist up to examine it. Looking at the bracelet she had gotten for him a few years ago, he remembered that they had been broken up then as well. Though their relationship was much more strained at the time, he convinced himself that there was no difference between then and now, and chose to forget about it.

Several scenarios ran through his head about how and when she would come across the box. He pictured her face displaying a multitude of reactions. That's when another thought had occurred to him. It was possible that when she got home, she went right to bed and hadn't even bothered to begin unpacking. Convincing himself that that was the reason for the radio silence on her end, he allowed himself to breathe. What he needed to do now was to find a distraction to prevent him from staring at his phone. Leaving it plugged into the charger on the nightstand, Schmidt got up, collected his shower caddy and headed for the bathroom to take a really long shower.

* * *

With the sun shining through her windows curtains and landing on her face, Cece stirred awake. The light pierced her eyelids forcing any further sleep to be impossible. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw her arm thrown haphazardly on her pillow next to her and clasped around it, the bracelet she had fallen asleep admiring. The sight of it instantly sent her face into the brightest of gleams. She sat up in her bed and turned to check the alarm clock. She had plenty of time before she had to meet Jess & Schmidt at the loft to pick up Coach, Nick & Winston at the airport.

Cece reached over and grabbed her phone. Scrolling through her contacts at warp speed, she found Schmidt's name and pressed it. Then, she froze. Staring at that green call button, Cece couldn't bring herself to press it. Wanting to, more than anything, just to hear his groggy, early morning voice, she just could not move her thumb. _I can't thank him with a phone call_ , she thought to herself. For something this beautiful and thoughtful, she wanted to see him in person. She wanted to look him in the eyes and let him see just how much this meant to her.

As the thought of being in his presence took hold in her mind, Cece was hit with a sudden burst of energy. She was now fully awake and anxious as ever to get up and get ready for the day. Cece threw her blankets off of her and jumped off the bed like she was a kid again on the first day of summer.

* * *

Cece stepped off the elevator and strutted down the hallway as if it were a runway in Milan. The extra pep in her step this morning came from her impatient desire to properly thank a thoughtful friend for an extravagant gift. Approaching the door to apartment 4D, she was not the least bit surprised that it was unlocked. In her usual way, she knocked while simultaneously opening it and called out to the lofts present occupants.

"Knock, knock!" She yelled peeking her head in first before allowing the rest of herself to follow suit. The emptiness made the apartment seem eerie. The boys could not come back quickly enough. Cece closed the door behind her and steeped further inside just in time to see Jess come out of the kitchen.

"Hey, Cece." She said with slight enthusiasm as if they hadn't just seen each other the day before.

"Hey. You guys ready to go?" Cece quickly glanced down the hallway, then back towards the kitchen hoping to find Schmidt.

Jess didn't notice. "Yeah, I just need to put on my shoes and grab a jacket. I'll be right back." She headed back towards her room, banging on Schmidt & Nick's bedroom door. "SCHMIDT! LET'S GO!"

As soon as she disappeared into her room, the door across the hall opened and out came Schmidt. Cece didn't even bother trying to hide the smile on her face, especially since he wasn't hiding his. Walking to her with his usual stride, for her it just wasn't quick enough. Cece practically ran to him, closing the distance between them in record time. "Hey…I thought I heard your voice. How are y-" Before he could finish his sentence, Cece had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck with her body pressed against his in a bear hug. Schmidt softly chuckled to himself as he hugged her back. "I take it this means you got my gift."

Cece released him from her grip, leaving her hands on his shoulders, not wanting to let go. "I did & I love it. Really, Schmidt, it's the most amazing gift anyone has ever gotten me. Thank you."

He smiled. "You're welcome. I'm really happy you like it." She took her hands off of him to show him that she was wearing it, debating whether or not to tell him that she hadn't taken it off since finding it in her luggage the day before.

The two of them stood there, only a foot away from each other smiling through the silence. They were lost in each other that neither of them noticed that Jess had rejoined them. But Jess _had_ noticed the way the two of them were looking at each other and became confused. "What's going on?" She asked them suspiciously.

Both Cece & Schmidt break their eye contact and take a step away from each other, turning to Jess while doing so.

"Nothing." They said in unison, shaking their heads. Jess wasn't convinced but decided to ignore it for now.

"Okay. You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah." Schmidt said grabbing his jacket off the back of the couch. "I'll drive."

* * *

 **LAX**

Despite the fact that they left early and accounted for possible traffic, Schmidt, Jess and Cece arrived at Coach's gate with only five minutes to spare. They figured that the airport wouldn't be as packed and hectic as it was when they left, but they were only half right.

Coach was easy enough to spot through the crowd of people getting off the plane. If his height didn't help, the brand new Detroit Pistons home jersey he was wearing sure did. He was excited to see them, giving them an enthusiastic group hug that had temporarily cut off Jess' air supply.

With two hours to kill before Nick and Winston's flight from Chicago arrived, they all went to the food court to grab lunch. They passed the time by sharing in each other's stories from the vacations they had been on. Coach was more than happy to show off pictures of his adorable niece 'Ro-Ro'. All four of them were able to relate with one another when the topic of how crazy their families were and how many relatives they were surrounded by, came up.

Jess told them all about her trip to London and meeting Ryan's family for the first time. Schmidt went on about his crazy cousin constantly trying to rough house with him in an effort to prove his superior masculinity, as well as his mother trying to convince him to move back to New York. Cece recounted all of the cultural traditions she was forced to endure with her family. Each and every one of them, however, were so happy to be back home.

* * *

 **Two Hours Later**

The four of them waited patiently at the gate for the flight from Chicago. Out the window, they were mesmerized watching the plane pull up the building, and seeing others take off and land. As the passengers began spilling out of the tunnel, Jess, Cece, Coach and Schmidt all strained their necks trying to see through everyone and find their two lovable idiots who hail from the windy city.

"There they are." Jess said loudly, catching a glimpse of Nick and Winston rounding the corner with their arms thrown around each other's shoulders. "Hey Guys!"

Hearing her voice, Nick, like a gazelle, perked up and scanned the area finding his roommates standing off to the side, waving them over. "Winnie look! It's Jess and everybody! Hey Guys!" The second the first words escaped his lips, they all knew that he had a few on the plane. Sadly, they weren't even surprised.

Winston's eyes followed the direction Nick pointed and spotted them too. "Heeeeyyyyy!"

Cece leaned over towards Schmidt & Coach's ears and asked them quietly, "They're drunk aren't they?"

"Oh yeah." Jess said overhearing.

Coach nodded. " _So_ drunk."

"Typical." Schmidt said rolling his eyes.

Nick rushed over and threw himself into a hug with both Schmidt and Coach. "Schmidtty! Coach! We've missed ya!"

Coach smelled the alcohol on Nick's breath and almost caught a buzz right then. "So how drunk are you guys?" He asked as Nick released them.

"Oh I'm just buzzed." Winston chimed in. That was believable.

"I'm about as buzzed as you can get without actually being drunk. I'm like teetering the line right now." Nick said.

Against her better judgement, Cece felt the need to ask. "How and why are you guy's 'buzzed' at an airport at 6 pm?"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure the how is self-explanatory, Cece," Nick began with a hint of irritated sarcasm in his voice. "And the why is because it's freaking New Year's Eve! So there!"

"Oh yeah," Coach said coming to that realization as well. "What's the game plan for that? Like, are we doing anything? What going on guys?"

"Well we could go to the bar. Mike texted me yesterday that there's going to be a New Year's party. Sounds like fun." Nick said.

"Okay," Jess said. "We can do that. But let's go back to the loft first. We can exchange Christmas gifts."

"Do we have to?" Schmidt asked her.

"Yes. I want us to celebrate Christmas together. We didn't get to see each other for two whole weeks. I missed you guys. We're a family, and families celebrate the holidays." Nobody wanted to argue with her. She had a point. They had become their own little makeshift family over the years. Jess was like their surrogate mother, and they knew well enough at this point not to argue when your mother gives a heartfelt speech about spending time together. So with smiles on their faces, they all headed back to the car and headed home.

* * *

 **Apartment 4D**

The place was a mess. Littered all around them in the living room were the remnants of wrapping paper and tape that their gifts to each other had been enclosed in. Sitting in a circle around the coffee table, they all took turns opening presents addressed to them and holding them up for all to see. Everyone received gifts that catered specifically to them, unless they were given to them by Nick, as he was well known among the loft as the 'Worst Gift Giver'.

Coach was excited to get a new sweat suit, a personalized gym bag, a top of the line Stopwatch, a Fitbit wristband and a few gift cards for the Nike outlet mall. All of the presents Nick was given, were all beer related and that didn't bother him a bit. He loved the bottle opener from Cece, the leather beer bottle holster that attached to his belt, the home brewing kit & especially the Keg fridge.

To everyone's expectations, Winston was over-the-moon getting all cat-related items. The rest of the group had the same idea, and got him costumes and playthings for Ferguson. He responded by telling them all to expect a well-crafted kitten calendar featuring Ferguson dressed in all the costumes each month. It made them all cringe.

One thing that surprised everyone, was Cece's gift to Schmidt. They all had gotten each other great gifts but what she had given him was somewhat extravagant. Opening the palm-sized box with his name on it, Schmidt's eyes lit up when he saw the Michael Kors Silver-Tone Lexington wrist watch. He was at a loss for words. Seeing this, Cece decided to offer up an explanation. "I remember you looking at it when we were window shopping in Times Square. After you dropped me off at the festival, I went back and bought it for you."

"Cece. This watch is incredible. I can't believe you got this for me. Thank you so much." He didn't care if the rest of the loft thought it was weird, he stood straight up and wrapped his arms around her in the biggest hug. The two of them stood there, holding each other as the rest of the group watched them in an awkward silence, exchanging looks between each other. After their really long embrace had finally ended, Jess tried to get the atmosphere back to normal by handing the next gift in line to its recipient.

* * *

 **An Hour and a Half Later**

Their Christmas celebration was over and done. Everyone had opened all their beloved gifts and had basked in the joy of the belated holiday. Schmidt of course got his second wind of excitement by cleaning up after everybody, discarding the excess wrapping paper and boxes properly. By the time he was done, each of the roommates had gone to their rooms to unwind, unpack and get ready for the night ahead. Jess wanted to touch up her hair before Ryan arrived, Coach wanted to take a quick power nap, Winston wanted to 'catch-up' with Ferguson, and Nick, surprisingly enough, wanted to find the right clothes to wear to impress Kai.

That left Schmidt and Cece to themselves in the living room. She was glad they were finally getting a moment to themselves, because she had been trying to find the opportune moment to give Schmidt a second gift.

"Hey, so I actually have another gift for you?" she said with a nervous excitement.

Schmidt looked at her confused. "You do?"

"Yeah. It's not a big deal." Cece grabbed her bag and pulled out a photo album. "It's pretty corny but…" She didn't really know the right thing to say. This was a Jess type gift and it had her feeling incredibly self-conscious anticipating his reaction.

For the second time that day, Schmidt's breath was taken away by this woman. "Oh my god." He said grabbing it. Immediately, he began flipping through the pages and was sent back in time. "Wow. Are these all the pictures from New York?"

"Mmhmm."

"Cece…this is amazing." He closed it to look at the cover, noticing that she had decorated it herself and used the picture they took at Times Square where Cece was staring up at him. That one was his favorite.

"Yeah? You like it?" She asked.

"I love it. But I feel bad now. You got me two gifts and I only got you one."

Cece waved him off. "Oh Schmidt it's fine."

"No it's not." He said, insistent. "I'm getting you a second gift. Anything you want, just name it." She knew he would not let this go, so she gave it a quick thought. That's when she realized the opportunity that had presented itself in this very moment, and she was damn sure going to capitalize on it.

"Well…there is one thing I would like."

Schmidt's ears perked up, ready and willing to accommodate whatever her demand was. "What is it?"

Cece hesitated a bit, knowing full well that he did not want to share the information with her, but she was so curious. "Tell me what that guy said at the lounge."

"Seriously? That's what you're asking for?" He should have known.

"Yes, seriously. I'm dying to know. You don't go off on people like that unless there's a really good reason. I want to know," She could tell by the look on his face that he was going to try everything in his power to resist telling her, so Cece had decided to utilize her most deadly weapon. Extending her lower lip and batting her eyelashes ever so innocently, she displayed her 'Naughty Baby Indian' look once again. "…Please?"

Schmidt looked at her and his defenses instantly weakened. "Dammit! I hate that you can do that…" Shaking his head, he had no other choice. She was his Kryptonite. "Fine, I'll tell you." With that, Cece straightened up, giving him her undivided attention. "Okay, when you got up to get another drink from the bar, he offered me a deal. He would give me his first class lounge card if I let him…as he put it….'Take a run' at you."

Of all the scenarios she had thought up, that had never crossed her mind. "Really?" she asked him, her tone matching his.

"Yeah. Hearing him disrespect you like that… it really pissed me off, so I went off on him. I really wanted to punch him, but a guy like that…he'd probably press charges…anyway. That's the reason." Schmidt couldn't bring himself to look at her. He didn't know how she would react about something like that. The room went quiet as Cece was lost in thought. At first, she felt disgusted and violated thinking back to that day. Suddenly the way that guy had been eyeing her when he thought she wasn't paying attention had made sense.

Something else about that day stuck out to her. When they went to the food court, Cece remembered Schmidt saying that he had disrespected something that meant more to him than any stupid lounge, something priceless. Not knowing at the time that he was referring to her, she felt incredibly grateful now. He was always incredibly protective of those he cared about, and every once in a while, he would do something to remind her that she was one of them.

Cece looked over at Schmidt and could see his irritation resurface at the mere thought of that guy. She got up from her side of the couch and moved closer to him, sitting down right next to him. Without giving it a second thought, she leaned in and gave him sweet and gentile kiss on the cheek. As she pulled her lips away, their eyes met. "That…that was really sweet. Thank you."

Once again, he couldn't speak, he just nodded his head. They sat there a while longer, holding each other's gaze. She was getting lost in his gorgeous green eyes, debating whether or not she should kiss him again. She wanted to so desperately. Before her mind could finish the game of tug-of-war between _'_ _should I, shouldn't I'_ , the doorbell rang, causing both of them to jump back as if they were teenagers getting caught by their parents.

Their timing was spectacular since that was when Jess came running through the hall and past them in the living room. "It's Ryan! He's here!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, opening the door and jumping into the arms of her British boyfriend. Cece mentally cursed her best friend, frustrated at not being able to catch a break.

* * *

 **The Bar – 11:51 pm**

It was the last night of the year, and no one was disappointed. The party at the bar they loved to spend time at was exactly where they were meant to be. Kai had met up with them and agreed to help Nick be Coach's wingman so he could find some lonely girl to kiss at midnight. Jess and Ryan sat with Winston at their usual booth taking in a very peculiar sight. Over at the bar, Schmidt and Cece were immersed in what seemed to be a very funny conversation while they waited for the bartender to serve them their drinks.

Winston felt like they were in a parallel universe, it was the only way to explain what was happening. "So…Is it just me, or do the two of them seem a lot more…friendly with each other than they were when we left?"

"Right?!" Jess responded quickly. She was glad she wasn't the only one to notice the closeness of the former couple. "They've been like that since we got back. Did you know they spent the first half of their trip together?"

Winston and Ryan shared a surprised look. "Really?"

"Yeah. Schmidt took her on a tour of New York City. They went to Central Park, he taught her to ice skate, and they even went on a Ferris wheel."

"Wow. That sounds like a plot for a holiday themed romantic comedy." Winston let that thought run wild for a moment and Jess indulged him.

"It does doesn't it? I could see Brad & Angelina playing them. They would kill it. I would totally watch that movie." Jess and Winston allowed themselves to get swept up in that fantasy, momentarily forgetting where they were until Ryan snapped them out of it.

"Well do you think their getting back together?" He asked in his lovable British accent.

"Cece says they aren't, they're just giving the whole 'friends' thing a real shot, but it's completely obvious they still have feelings for each other." Jess said.

"So obvious." Winston added.

"It really is." Ryan chimed in just to feel more a part of the conversation.

"I think we should say something to them."

Winston looked at Jess quizzically. "Like what?"

Jess shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Tell them they should get back together, that they have our blessing."

"I don't think we're the ones holding them back." Winston said with a slight chuckle.

"Well, maybe Cece is reluctant to try again because she thinks we'll judge her after everything that's happened."

"Jess, trust me, we cannot interfere. When they're ready, they'll tell each other how they feel."

"Are you kidding? It's Schmidt and Cece! They would never admit it to themselves, let alone each other." She had a point and they all knew it. "Can you, at least just talk to Cece privately at some point?"

Winston's eyes grew wide. "Why me? Why not you?"

"I already brought it up at the airport yesterday, but if you bring it up to her too, she might realize how noticeable the two of them are being and it'll convince her to talk to him."

Winston pretended to be annoyed with the request but honestly, he didn't mind. For whatever reason, he liked being included in the girls' business, but he had to fake his disdain otherwise the guys would tease him by calling him Fez from 'That '70's Show'. "Fine. I'll say something."

"But you have to wait for the right moment, when nobody's around."

Winston let his overconfidence take over, accidentally letting his 'sexy man' voice seep into his tone. "Hey…this is Winnie the Bish you're talking to. I'll get it done. Don't worry baby."

Jess and Ryan both looked at him awkwardly. "Can you just nod and say yes you understand, because when you talk like that, it kinda creeps me out." Jess said.

"Yes, I understand, I'll talk to her. I'm not a smooth man." He confessed.

Ryan looked up in time to see the duo with their drinks in hand, closing in on them to join them in the booth. "Here they come." He said quickly and quietly.

As Schmidt and Cece sat down, they were still in the middle of their conversation, laughing as they took their seats in the booth. "Oh my god, they were so freaking funny!" Cece said trying, unsuccessfully to suppress her laughter.

"That's unbelievable." Said Schmidt as he slid into the booth right next to her.

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Jess asked nosily trying to remind them of their presence. Schmidt and Cece shared a smile at each other before turning back to them.

"Penguins!" They both said in unison, prompting another fit of laughter from the two as Jess, Ryan and Winston watched in confusion.

"Penguins?" Winston asked them.

Cece found the strength to hold her laugh long enough to respond. "Yeah we saw these penguins at the zoo in Central Park-"

"-And Coney Island." Schmidt interjected.

"Right, right…anyway, they were flopping around and fumbling all over the place and I just started dying."

"For a second, I was scared she was going to stop breathing."

Cece turned toward Schmidt. "Do you remember the fat one tumbling down that slide after he tripped?" she asked him.

"What I remember is you laughing at an innocent animal's clumsiness." Schmidt shook his head and turned back toward the others. "She's so evil."

"Oh whatever." Cece said sarcastically giving him a playful shove. Jess, Ryan and Winston just watched the scene before them unfold, feeling like they were in a real life Nicholas Sparks film.

Cece lifted her glass up to take a sip of her drink. As her shirts sleeve slid down, her bracelet became visible, catching Jess attention. Being the know-it-all friend of twenty years, Jess knew every piece of jewelry Cece owned and didn't recall the shiny chain that encircled her wrist.

"Hey I like your bracelet. Is it new?" She asked. Cece looked at the bracelet and smiled.

"Oh, yeah." She said. "Schmidt got it for me. It was a Christmas gift. All the charms represent things from our trip."

Jess was taken aback. "Wow." She said. "That's a really sweet gift Schmidt."

Schmidt smiled at the accolades. "Thank You." He and Cece shared a quick glance and smile one more time that did not go unnoticed by the rest of them. At that moment, they all heard Nick's slightly drunken voice from the opposite side of the bar.

"HEY SCHMIDTTY! COME HERE FOR A SEC!"

"I'll be back." Schmidt said to the group as he grabbed his drink and disappeared into the crowd.

Jess saw an opportunity arise and took advantage of it. "Hey, Ryan…Can you come help me over at the Jukebox. I need a really good song to end the year."

Ryan picked up on her deceptive tone and played along. "Umm…sure." As they got up, Jess caught Winston's eye and gave him a pretty obvious wide-eyed look. He took that as the signal to take this moment to talk to Cece about her and Schmidt. He nodded to her and took another swig of his beer for liquid courage.

Cece turned to him and sparked a conversation before he had the chance. "So…tell me more about your trip back home. Did the ladies love 'Winston the Chicago 10'?"

"Oh yeah. I had me some good times back home."

Cece smiled at him. "Nice."

"So…what about you?" he asked cryptically.

Cece shrugged. "What do you mean?"

"Well…Not to be nosy, but it seems like there's something going on with you and Schmidt."

"You too with that?" Cece rolled her eyes. "Jess asked me about it at the airport yesterday."

"And what did you say?"

"Nothing is going on. Schmidt & I care about each other and we're trying to be friends. That's all." The fact that she was avoiding full on eye contact, told Winston all he needed to know.

"Are you sure that's all? ...Look, Cece….I'm your friend too, so I can tell you that what you and Schmidt have is way more than a friendship. Seeing the way you two are with one another, it's so obvious that the feelings are still there and then some."

Cece took a minute to let that sink in. "So what do you think I should do? Talk to him?"

"Yes. After everything, Schmidt thinks that door is closed…permanently. No matter how much he loves you, he's never going to try again unless you tell him that's what you want to do."

Cece was so lost in thought, she didn't even notice that the entire bar had erupted into the countdown of the final minute of the year. "Back in New York, we had this moment. We…kind of…almost kissed and I was going to talk to him about it then, but he made it seem like he wasn't there anymore, so I decided against it."

"Trust me. He's there. He will always be there. He just needs to know if you're there."

Cece nodded her head fervently and smiled. "I am."

"So what are you sitting here talking to me for?" Winston said confused. "Go tell him."

"Here? Now?" She looked around as the room had made it down to 30 seconds.

Winston couldn't help his excitement at the situation. His inner feminine side was escaping. "This is perfect! Go find him and be his New Year's Kiss."

Cece fed off his energy. "Yeah. I'm going to go do that!" She got up, downed the rest of her drink and walked toward the crowd to find Schmidt.

"GO GET YOUR MAN GIRL!" As Cece disappeared, Winston looked around at the empty seats next to him. "I am so lonely." He said to himself quietly taking another swig of his beer.

Cece was a woman on a mission, maneuvering through the crowd, pushing past all the drunks and party girls, searching for Schmidt.

 _"_ _22!...21!...20!"_

She scanned every face she saw, but was lost in a mass of strangers. She had no idea of where in the bar she actually was.

 _"_ _14!...13!...12!"_ With each passing second, the butterflies in her stomach flapped faster and faster, wanting so desperately to find his beautiful green eyes and get lost in them forever.

Cece found a barstool and stepped up on lower footrest bars, scanning the top of the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of his head. That's when it dawned on her just how tall everybody around her was, which only increased her frustration.

Suddenly, across the way, she saw a group of guys raising their glasses to clink them together. She couldn't see their heads or faces, but beneath one of the glasses, wrapped around the wrist of the hand that held it was Schmidt's bracelet. That shiny Tungsten Carbide chain served as a beacon for Cece, drawing her towards him like their very own gravitational pull.

 _"_ _10!...9!...8!"_

She hopped down and headed straight in the direction from which she saw his arm. The more eagerly she tried to shuffle through the crowd, the more difficult it seemed.

 _"_ _7!...6!...5!"_

She was running out of time. She needed to reach him before the countdown ended.

 _"_ _4!...3!"_

Just then, the swarm of people before her parted like the red sea, and the path they opened up led directly to Schmidt. She could see him at the end of the tunnel. As quickly as her feet would allow, she made a beeline straight for him, her heart beating a million miles an hour.

 _"_ _2!...1!"_ She was right behind him. As the every single occupant of the bar screamed, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Cece reached her arm out to him, ready to grab him, spin him around and plant her lips onto his.

Before her hand could grab hold of him, a woman she had never seen before jumped up onto him, throwing her arms around him and attacking his mouth with hers in what was supposed to be Cece's New Year's kiss. What hurt the most was that he was kissing her back.

Cece felt a pit form in her stomach the size of a black hole. She thought she was going to be sick. Turning around, she pushed past the people she fought to get through only moments ago and headed straight for the front doors of the bar. With every ounce of strength she had left, she held back her tears.

When she got outside, she struggled to catch her breath. It was like she got the wind knocked out of her. With a shaky exhale, she fought the urge to cry. Leaning slightly over the railing, her hands gripped it tight as she regained her composure.

Behind her, she heard the bar doors open once again. "Cece," came the voice of her best friend. "I saw what happened. I'm so sorry."

Cece nodded, not ready to let anyone see her face. "It's fine. It was stupid. I don't know what I was expecting to have happen."

"Are you okay?" She heard from Winston who had followed Jess out to check on her. With both of their presence behind her, she just didn't feel like holding up the tough façade any longer.

Turning around to face her two closest friends, she shook her head and let it hang in defeat as a few tears fell down the sides of her face and land on the ground. "No. I feel like an idiot."

"Cece…It's going to be okay." Jess tried to reason with her. But she was just not in the mood to hear any of it.

"No it's not. Back in New York, he said he didn't want us to jeopardize our friendship, so I let it go. I should have listened. But I didn't. I let myself get caught up in my feelings, misinterpreting everything he did, and now look where I am. Spending the first moments of the new year feeling miserable and alone and….heartbroken." She let out a sob. Jess and Winston pulled her in for a hug.

"Look, Cece." Winston began, hoping he could get the chance to talk her down. "We just have to regroup. That girl is just some random lonely skank throwing herself on the closest guy she could find. It meant nothing."

"No. It meant something. What just happened in there was a sign from the universe. I made it clear, very early on how I just want to be friends, I didn't give him any other choice, and now I have to accept that. I made my bed now I have lie in it."

"I wish there was something we could do." Jess had never seen Cece completely give up. In all the years she had known her, she had this 'go-getter' attitude that she admired, but looking at the grown woman before her, she just looked broken.

"You guys are already doing it." She squeezed each of their hands, silently thanking them for being there for her always. As they leant in for one more hug, they heard the bar doors open again and out came Nick, Coach, Schmidt, Kai and Ryan. The three of them quickly let go of each other and Cece turned around to wipe her face before they could see the evidence of her tears.

"Hey…there you guys are. We've been looking for ya'." Nick shouted. Jess stepped off to the side to divert all attention away from Cece and prevent any questions. She noticed Nick was holding a bottle of pretty pricey champagne and everyone else had their hands filled with glasses.

"What's with the Champagne?" Jess asked genuinely curious.

"We're going to toast to the New Year." Nick said.

Winston looked confused. "Didn't that just happen?" he started to wonder just how drunk he was.

"Well, yeah. But now I want it to be just us. It's like Jess said earlier. We're a family. A multiracial, irritating, weird and dysfunctional family. And no matter what…we'll always be a family. I love you guys." Cece finally turned back around to face them. She had managed to plaster a fake smile on her face, but avoided looking at Schmidt completely, not sure if she could handle that just yet."

Jess looked back at her friend telepathically asking her if she was okay, to which Cece responded with a slight nod that only she noticed. It was a perk of being friends their whole live. She turned back towards everyone else. "That's really sweet Nick."

"Yeah it is man." Winston added sounding as if he was about to burst into tears himself.

"Okay…" Nick said getting ready to open the bottle of Champagne. "Let's do this before my mascara starts to run." The group all laughed. With a pop of the cork, they all screamed and cheered, holding their glasses out to catch all the bubble spilling over.

When all the glasses were filled, Nick set the bottle down and they all instinctively circled around it in a small huddle holding their glasses up.

"To the New Year!" Nick said loudly.

"To new adventures!" Jess added next.

"To creating new memories!" Shouted Winston.

"To Family!" Coach offered up.

Schmidt rose his glass to meet theirs, and with his arm resting around Cece's shoulder, he spoke his toast. "To friends…that become family!" As miserable as she felt, Cece couldn't do anything to prevent the warm, safe sensation she always felt with his touch.

All together, they clinked their glasses with each other's and yelled. "CHEERS!" Everyone sipped from their glasses and hugged each other. Schmidt took advantage of the chaos to pull Cece aside without anyone noticing.

"Hey. You okay?" He asked concerned. "You look like you're upset about something."

Looking into those green eyes she loved so much for the final time that night, Cece smiled at him and with the poise and conviction she was known for told him. "I'm fine."

Schmidt wasn't entirely convinced, but let it go not wanting to push her. "Okay. Well come on then. Let me buy you another drink." He held his hand out to her and surprising herself, she took it and let him lead her back into the bar to drown her sorrows with the man she loved but didn't have, all the while thinking….Someday.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 **Times Square, New York – January 1st 4:03 AM**

The street was silent, save for the garbage trucks and street sweepers cleaning up the mess from the celebration that had ended a mere two hours ago. The entire block was covered in confetti. Stepping off the truck to grab the several full trach bags off the curb, one of the garbage men had noticed some of the large pieces of confetti from the Wishing Wall had stuck to the bottom of his shoe. He tried to shake them off, but they were holding their ground. Using a wall to brace himself, he lifted his foot to grab them, ripping them from his sole. With a sudden curiosity, he read the pages that had clung to him, wondering what some complete strangers had taken the time to wish for.

Side by side, he held them up.

 _"_ _I wish I had him back" – Cece P., L.A. "I wish I had her back." – Schmidt, L.A._

* * *

 **And that's all folks! Again, I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. If anyone has a story request you know where to find me...I'm all ears. Let me know what you guys think!**


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